Something Small (with Teeth)
by Cyanide Lemons
Summary: A day later he makes it through a full class of gym without tripping once or getting the ball smashed in his face. The week after that, his English homework comes back with a respectable 72%. It's not long after that that people start getting suspicious.
1. Chapter 1

AN:/ Re-written version, up to chapter 8. 8 and up will be drastically different. I have 10k written out, just waiting on my beta (Tsurai).

—

No one is really sure when it starts. It's a slow progression, no one incident or event big enough to pinpoint what began it all. One day Dame-Tsuna is as useless as always, and then the next day when the boys in class C try to push him into buying their drinks, he's not. He actually glares up at the boy in charge and says no. Of course he then immediately runs screaming and trips on his laces, so all together not that much of a change. Just enough of one for the group to stand in shock instead of chase after him.

And then the next day, he's actually able to answer the teacher's question correctly. A fluke more than likely, the class whispers. He was bound to get something right eventually. This is proven right after, when the teacher in furious disbelief starts lobbing question after question at him, Tsuna stutters through incorrect answer after incorrect answer.

A day later he makes it through a full class of gym without tripping once or getting the ball smashed in his face.

The week after that, his English homework comes back with a respectable 72%.

It's not long after that that people start getting suspicious.

—

"Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko asks as they walk to school. Somehow in the past couple months she's found herself in his company more and more on the route to Namimori Middle School. The day is nice and sunny, and both of them got up early enough that they won't have to worry about being tardy and running into Hibari. She should have no reason for the knot of apprehension in her gut.

"Hmm?" Tsuna hums, distracted. He's fumbling in his backpack for today's history homework. Kyoko can just make out his stressed murmurs about forgetting it at home.

She shakes her head. She must be imagining things. She's worrying for nothing.

"No, never mind. Oh! Me and Hana are going to get cakes after school if you want to join us. There's a new chocolate mousse!" She says, doubt already firmly routed as she watches him struggle with the backpack.

"Oh!" Tsuna stares at her, blushing a bit. "Uh, sure, that'd be great!" he bites his lip as if he wants to say more. He trips on a loose stone.

She doesn't have the time to respond before a shout grabs her attention to where a group of students from another school are hanging out, eyes following them as they pass. A few of them have cigarettes out and the smell has her shrinking back a little.

Strangely, Tsuna's fumbling straightens out along with his spine, and he spends the entire walk pass them with a weird, blank look on his face. He seems very intent on the group, but oddly, not apprehensive.

Strange.

—

Hibari knows who Tsunayoshi is of course. Even without his self-inflicted duty to Namimori he would know. That's the thing. Everyone knows who Dame-Tsuna is. Knowing who he is doesn't mean he really registers as anything but another faceless herbivore. Not until the whispers about Dame-Tsuna start to change.

And even then, he mostly wouldn't pay any attention if it weren't for how things start…not lining up.

It's a Monday at 12:03 when a group of upperclassmen corner Tsuna and ask him not-so-politely to hand over his allowance. It's 12:05 when Hibari leans through the window above them prepared to bite them to death. It's 12:06 when Tsuna tries to very politely convince the boys to not hit his face. When that doesn't work, it's 12:07 and Tsuna has knocked one boy down and staggered another. He's halfway across the field before it ticks towards 12:08.

Hibari takes care of the stragglers and prepares to change his mental assessment of Tsunayoshi Sawada.

(He's not convinced, not yet. But he will be.)

—

So things have changed at Namimori. Small things of course, but to those in-tune with the social hierarchy of Namimori Middle School, it's just enough to knock things off-course.

And it doesn't stop there.

Three months after it starts Nezu-Sensei is fired for fraud and they get a frail old woman as a math teacher instead. She's mostly blind but her handwriting is impeccable, and she grades the students fairly. Those who were struggling suddenly find themselves with passing grades. The school issues an apology.

When the news is released, the only one in class not surprised is the class scapegoat.

A week after that Takeshi Yamamoto starts eating lunch with Tsuna. This creates a mild upheaval in the social rankings, although less so when Kyoko and Hana join him.

When asked about it, Takeshi just says that "he seems like an interesting guy".

The confusion slowly settles.

A month after that, when Ryohei is running before school, he sees a small figure along his route. He quickly catches up to it and is only mildly surprised when it turns out to be Sawada. He yells a greeting, compliments the other boy's running form and then asks if he has ever tried boxing.

He doesn't get an answer because the bell rings and they both have to run from Hibari.

He sees him the next few days, gradually running faster and farther, a determined look on Sawada's face. He sees him walking with his sister, but it takes a few times to connect the dots and realise that the running boy is the same boy that his sister worries about.

The perfect solution comes to him.

A week after that three figures can be seen running through town.

It feels a little bit like some great change. Something monumental.

—

Nana finds a gun in her closet and screams. It fell out of a box of her husband's things as she was putting away laundry, and it sits on her bedroom floor like it belongs.

Goosebumps rise along her arms.

She sets the rest of the clothing aside and tears up the back of the closet like the gun is pressing against her heart. She finds knives, bullets, money.

She finds a passport for a man who looks like her husband but who doesn't have his name.

She moves from her bedroom to the rest of the house and finds other things, less obvious things.

There's a stain in the living room she thinks might be blood.

Her son comes home and watches as she frantically scrubs at it with a wire brush. He leaves for a bit, but when he comes back it's with gloves and a jug of bleach. He gets down besides her and holds her shaking hands for a couple seconds, before taking over and scrubbing besides her.

The questions want to rise in her throat, but she's so used to turning that part of her off they get stuck in the back of her throat.

She looks at her son and doesn't recognise him.

That night she flips through a disused phone book and calls a number she once swore never to call again.

"…Papa?"

—

Tsuna sits on his bed after his mother has calmed down and wishes he could feel some guilt for her pain. He doesn't though, because the shock will fade, and at least this way she will have the time to process.

She didn't before.

She didn't before and it almost killed her.

His father deserves it anyway, for leaving a single mother with a child and never explaining what things that child will bring to her life.

He flips open a scuffed notebook and cross off something on his list.

The list is a bullet point of nonsensical words, written in such a way that it could mean something but is almost impossible to understand.

It's not in another language, or in some sort of cypher. It is a code, but not one you would be able to crack without knowing what he does.

That is, without knowing the future.

—

The plane touches down onto solid ground and a killer steps out. Clutched in the small figure's hands is a thin folder, already open. The page that stares back is sparse, showing school records and an old school photo. There's a note attached in cramped handwriting.

Reborn clenches his teeth and tips his hat down.

"...Idiot Iemitsu can't even write a proper target report."

—

He watches the house for three days, gradually wearing his teeth down as the enormity of his task becomes apparent.

It was obvious from the get-go that he was working with subpar information, since Iemitsu had some sort of complex for his family and had only vague knowledge they even existed most of the time. There's also very limited surveillance in town, partly because Japan is supposed to be off limits and partly because it was never needed before.

Because of this, what he knows about his student fills a couple pages of sparse text. A failing school life, no significant friends, a weak and spineless personality.

Iemitsu seems to be under the impression that Tsunayoshi is still five years old. There's doodles of tuna in the margins of his notes.

The only real information comes from an incident report years ago when the Ninth sealed the boy's Flames off after being frightened by a chihuahua.

Such high potential in Flames and maybe the Primo's heritage, but very little else.

It takes a few days, but slowly that statement is proven false. The first indication is that it's easily apparent that the boy does have friends, quite a few of them too for someone who's supposed to be useless. And the quality of them is strangely high, as if he picked them himself for being mafia material.

Somehow, despite being at the bottom of the school rankings, he is seen most often with it's idols.

He doesn't appear to be doing terrible in school either. Not great at academics, but not failing, and a talent for foreign languages and history. It comes up that his math grades had been purposefully sabotaged by a fraudulent teacher, so he's even passing his worst class.

He's not even useless in gym, mostly because he's quick and agile. He's also filled to the brim with the sort of stamina and determination you don't see in men twice his size.

This becomes evident when Reborn has to follow him and two others on a three hour run that crosses into thick forests and crowded markets. If he didn't know any better he would think Tsunayoshi was purposefully waking up insanely early to drag his friends on the worst running routes to spite Reborn.

It's a sound technique, and one he had been planning on inflicting on his student himself, so he can profess a certain amount of annoyance on having that taken away.

It's not just the boy that's different from his reports, either.

Sawada Nana was supposed to be the clueless housewife, naïve and innocent of the mafia life. A bright personality but a not-so-bright intelligence.

And yet just in the three days he's been here he has witnessed two screaming matches on the phone during the day, one breakdown during the night, and a pile of self-defence pamphlets on the counter. The number she calls the most turns up unlisted, but she frequently calls the voice on the other end "Papa", and a few times "Mama".

Odd, since her parents are noted as deceased.

The way she holds the knives while making dinner also makes him nervous. He makes a mental note to step very carefully around her, since his instructions were very explicit in keeping her safe, and more importantly, ignorant.

"Tch. Idiot Iemitsu, can't even make a proper civilian family."

—

His neck itches.

He can't see Reborn, but he knows he's there. It's a prickling along his senses, an awareness that somewhere out there a predator is watching him.

He gets the same feeling with Hibari, but to a different extent. He figures it is partly because of a lack of interest on Hibari's part and partly the large, large gap of experience between both of them.

He thinks Hibari will get there though, and it won't take much more either. A few real battles under his belt, and some sort of obvious showcase of skill on Tsuna's part.

He's almost looking forward to it.

The thought catches him mid-stride and he almost trips. It is quickly disguised as he, Kyoko-chan, and Ryohei stumble across the threshold of the school. They have forty minutes to shower, change, and get to class. A much better time than last week, when they barely made it before the start of classes.

Sometimes the speed of growth of his friends makes his chest hurt.

"Ah! Ouch. I think I might have pulled something on that last block," Kyoko says, panting. Her brother pulls her up and forces her to walk her cramps away.

"We should check that out. Muscle injuries are EXTREMELY dangerous," he says solemnly.

It's weird seeing them interact. Before they never had the time, or the desire. Even though Kyoko-chan was involved, especially at the end, the years of exclusion hurt whatever sibling bond they had to start with. Ryohei was always blinded by his need to protect her, and Kyoko by her desire to not see him hurt.

He's glad he can see them like this.

"Let's check it out then, and maybe tomorrow we can take a break. It feels like we're at a point that a day to relax won't hurt," he says, lagging behind a tad so he can watch them.

Kyoko-chan turns a little so she can look him in the eye.

"I'm sure that's not necessary! It's probably nothing." She looks embarrassed to be the cause of them slowing down, but also a little touched.

Ryohei, who at first looked mulish at not continuing their insane runs tomorrow, now looks more concerned for his sister's health than his own.

"What if it's EXTREMELY not?" he asks, frantic. "What if you can never run again because you overworked yourself?"

Tsuna laughs.

"There you go, now we have to have a day to relax," he says.

They walk into the school, and he pauses to look one more time at the happy picture they make.

He can't help but think that this is what family looks like.

They soon split off, since Ryohei is in a grade higher than them. That leaves Kyoko-chan and Tsuna to wander off to change and to meet up again at lunch.

—

Hana Kurokawa is by nature a suspicious person. It comes with the territory of having the school idol as a best friend.

When Kyoko starts eating lunch with the class loser, she has doubts. Tsunayoshi is only slightly less of a monkey than the rest of their classmates, and that's mostly because he happens to look and act more like a scared kitten.

Or a rabbit.

But it gives her the perfect opportunity to get some inside dirt on what's going on. Because something is going on, and it obviously starts with Dame-Tsuna.

She's proven right when it becomes apparent that Tsuna is not Dame, or at least not enough to warrant a nickname for it. And he knows too much. About school subjects, about people, about the teachers.

Oh, people might say that Nezu was sacked because of an anonymous tip, but she knows better.

So when Kyoko turns up one day to say her brother wants her to start running with him, and who happens to join them but Tsunayoshi?

Well, it's suspicious.

Suspicious enough that she might be tempted to join them, just as a precaution, if it weren't for the fact that running makes her break out in hives.

She narrows her eyes out the window of the classroom.

That just means she has to be more proactive in her information gathering.

And she thinks she knows just where to start, considering there's been a black shadow stalking Tsunayoshi for three days now, and it's obvious he knows even if he doesn't confront it.

She would think it a coincidence, or nothing of note, but Hana Kurokawa is by nature a suspicious person.

It comes with the territory of being Hana Kurokawa.

—

Nana is at the kitchen table with a cup of tea when the doorbell rings. This is strange, since it's much too early for one of Tsuna's friends, and she hasn't had any of her own for quite a few years.

She's expecting some sort of salesperson, or maybe a delivery from her absent husband.

Instead she opens the door to a baby in a suit.

They stare at each other for a second, one in confusion and one in determination before she crouches down and settles for a vague smile.

"Yes? Are you lost?" She tries for something that sounds warm and inviting and ends up somewhere between there and bemused. The suit looks cute, but it's not very child-friendly.

"Ciao, I'm the home tutor Reborn." He says in perfect Japanese, although she thinks ciao is Italian.

"Oh my, a home tutor? Aren't you a little young?" She murmurs, distracted as she begins scanning the street. Something feels off.

"I am perfectly certified, and have been hired by your husband's company to mould your son into a leader of the future generation." He tips his little hat down once before looking back into her eyes.

"I have the papers here, as well as a letter from your husband." He holds out a few glossy pamphlets as well as a white envelope. She blinks before accepting them.

For a second Nana thinks about not opening the letter, telling the strange baby to find some other house to tutor. She's not feeling very confident in her husband right now, not after the things she's found in the dark corners of the house, or after the long conversations with her estranged family. She has the strange urge to close the door in his face and lock it.

Those thoughts fly right out of her head as soon as her hand touches the papers, a fog covering her eyes for a second as she crouches there, arm still outstretched.

"Yes of course," she murmurs, standing up. "Come on in Reborn, I'll set you up in Tsuna's room."

She listlessly pads into the house, door ajar behind her.

The shadowed eyes of the man-turned-child follow her.

—

That was a rather extreme reaction towards a very mild compulsion illusion, Reborn notes. Although it might explain her rather ditzy-appearing past behaviour. It's a dangerous weakness though, for the Vongola's future boss's mother to be so susceptible to manipulation. And it does raise the question as to why. Is it a trait that runs through her side of the family? Is Tsunayoshi in danger of inheriting it? Is it the result of trauma?

He closes the door and follows the woman as she gives up halfway through setting up a futon in her son's room, and instead starts dragging her feet around the kitchen. Her steps are quiet, her eyes still fogged and glassy. She does the circuit three times before stopping in front of a cabinet.

"Tea?" she says vaguely in his direction, fingers already running through a collection of colourful boxes. A few of them appear to be brand-name blends, but a few are labelled with handwritten names. There's even one with Tsuna written across it in large letters.

"Please, whatever you are having," he says, hopping from the floor to a chair. He would prefer espresso, but he would also rather not make any more requests while the woman is so suggestible. He'll have to be very careful with his words.

Nana hums, before pushing all the boxes in the cupboard away and reaching into the very back. The tin that she takes out is old and dented.

When she opens it Reborn has to force himself into stillness. It's a loose blend of what smells like ginger and Lung Ching, with a note of what might be jasmine.

It's a blend he's tasted before, and it wasn't at a housewife's kitchen table. His eyes narrow, and he stares at her back as if he can split open her ribs and read her story etched inside.

It's about high time someone looked into the history of Sawada Nana.

—

Tsuna opens the door to his house and hears the soft chatter of his mother's voice. For a second he thinks she might be on the phone, as she has for the past few days, but another voice answers her and his heart suddenly jumps into his throat.

Gooseflesh runs down his arms and he has to close his eyes for a second before he settles himself.

"I'm home!" he calls, kicking his shoes off and heading towards to kitchen where he already knows Reborn will be waiting.

Sure enough he turns the corner and has to make himself stop.

He blinks in apparent confusion, pushing his fear and grief and joy down, and takes a quick look at his mother for support. This is extremely off-script, and he doesn't really know why. Some small thrill of excitement runs through his veins. He doesn't know how this is going to go.

His mother seems a little lost, but when he turns his eyes towards her she smiles and nods to the baby at the table.

"This here is Reborn-sensei, he's here from your father's company to tutor you," she says. And suddenly warning bells are ringing and he's frowning, because something is wrong here.

"Um. But, my grades are good now?" he asks, almost by reflex.

"And I'm proud of you for pushing through like that, but a little help can go a long way. Not to mention who knows what sort of damage that math teacher did to your education, I would really feel better if someone qualified fixed up any gaps for you." Nana smiles at him, but it's weirdly tense, as if she's doing it by muscle memory.

Tsuna blinks at her.

"I'll let you two get to know each other then." She says, getting up and returning her empty cup to the sink.

"I need to get a few groceries for dinner, so I'll be out for a little bit. Play nice." It's said almost robotically. Tsuna is starting to get really worried when she brushes past him and drops a kiss on his head. She hasn't done that since he was eight.

He turns panicked eyes towards Reborn, who's been strangely quiet during all of this.

The click of the front door is deathly loud in the tense atmosphere that she leaves in her wake.

—

Nana turns down towards the shops, steps in between two arguing shoppers and then disappears down a convenient alley in the cover they provide.

Her hands shake as she scrambles to find her cellphone in her purse. She has to fight with a bunch of receipts and forgotten club cards before she finds the rarely used machine.

The number takes a few tries to get dialled, and she has to hold her breath as the ringing starts. She's suddenly paranoid that the relative safety of the alley is an illusion, that there are eyes from the street watching her dressed in black suits and with shadowed faces. She feels the sniper scope crawl across her back.

She lets the brick of one side of the alley hold her up.

"…Allo?" She hears distantly through the receiver.

"Code 0-6-0-1-1-8," she says, barely making her mouth move.

A pause.

"Nana?" a panicked voice asks, sharp and distinct before a deeper one takes over.

"Are you in danger?" It asks. Nana takes a great gulp of breath and presses back into the brick wall.

"I don't know. But my son..." She forces out, heart trying to crawl into her throat and die there. There was a reason she hasn't talked to her family in years.

There's a pause on the line, before the voice answers.

"We'll be there in twenty-four hours, contact the usual place for more information. I'll tell your father that you won't be able to call tonight." And then the call goes quiet, the dial tone fading into the evening air.

She slips the cellphone into her purse again, straightens her knocking knees, and walks back into the traffic.

She has dinner to make.

—

Reborn sips his tea and watches the boy fidget. Tsunayoshi up close looks even more harmless than from the view of his binoculars. It's a deceiving appearance, and he can maybe start to see why Iemitsu wrote the boy off as weak.

There's an honesty to Tsunayoshi's appearance that you just don't see in mafia men.

He slowly puts the cup down when it becomes obvious that the boy won't be the one to speak first. He does take a seat though, the same place his mother vacated, and slides his eyes so that he's staring vaguely in the direction of Reborn's left shoulder.

"What do you know of your father's company, Tsunayoshi-kun?" He says finally. He had been planning on going straight to the jugular, using the humiliating nickname that the children had already bestowed the boy, and bullying him into compliance.

It's a tactic that works well in mafia families, but now he finds himself retreating a little. It shouldn't matter that the boy is a civilian, because Vongola will have its blood and he's doomed younger and more civilian children to worse fates.

And yet.

"Um," Tsunayoshi says, blinking wide eyes his way. "You can call me Tsuna?"

What starts as a statement falls into a questioning tone halfway there, as the boy takes a second to realise what Reborn asked.

"You don't actually think he's an oil miner," Reborn continues, ignoring the correction.

Tsunayoshi taps a rhythm on the table, eyes flickering around. He mumbles into the wood.

"I mostly thought he was dead. Mom told me he went and became a star for two years. I figured it was her nice way of saying he got crushed under an oil rig and we were surviving off of his insurance money."

Reborn feels a tick developing in his eye. The sarcasm is a good sign, but it doesn't help his rising desire to strangle Iemitsu. How can a mafia head be so stupid?

"He's not. Dead or an oil miner." Here Reborn pauses to take out the doctored family tree he had prepared for this meeting.

"Your father works for Vongola, the largest and strongest mafia family in the world." Here he pauses to watch the boy's reaction. There's a stillness in the air, but Tsunayoshi isn't jumping up and yelling denials either.

"I am here because as the world's strongest hitman, I have the knowledge and ability to make you the strongest mafia boss." He rolls the family tree out and points to the boy's name on the bottom.

"You are the only current eligible heir." He doesn't take his eyes off of the boy as he reluctantly tugs the document closer.

There's a blink, and then he looks back up at Reborn.

"That's an interesting game for a baby to choose." The boy's voice is flat. There's maybe something amused in the corners of his eyes.

Reborn doesn't slap a hand on his face, but he dearly wants to. Leon jumps into his hands and turns into a gun.

Looks like the soft approach won't work after all.

—

Tsuna cackles inwardly while running from bullets. He suddenly sees why Takeshi always needles Gokudera. He doesn't feel all that guilty of stealing the catchphrase either, since Reborn really couldn't have expected him to believe his story in the first place.

After all, a baby showing up to say his father is in the mafia and he's the next boss? If he hadn't lived it already he would never consider it.

He's got to wonder why Reborn didn't start with his original introduction though. Has things changed that much? Not to mention hearing him call him Tsunayoshi is just weird. He would almost prefer Dame-Tsuna. Somehow hearing Reborn use -kun makes him think he's mocking him.

"Ok!" He yells after jumping behind the couch. "I believe you! Please stop trying to kill me."

There's silence for a second before a voice behind him says:

"If I was trying to kill you, you would be dead."

He whirls around and makes a dying cat noise at seeing his tutor there. Reborn has picked up his teacup sometime during the whole ordeal and seems to be having a tea party with Leon and a few of Tsuna's old stuffed animals.

Red colours his face and he can almost feel the steam escaping his ears.

Reborn smirks his way, hat obscuring most of his face and legs crossed.

"Well? Have a seat Tsunayoshi-kun. We have a lot to talk about."

—

Nana comes home to a gleaming house. There are walls that look freshly painted, and she suspects the counter in the kitchen has been replaced.

She doesn't even blink at the dishevelled appearance of her son, and simply starts putting the groceries away. She gets her pans out and lines up the ingredients like soldiers on the brand new counter.

Tsuna is sitting at the table, head in his arms and homework strewn about. Reborn sits on his head like some guardian devil.

"Ah, did you boys have a good study session?" she asks as she starts cutting vegetables.

"Acceptable," Reborn says, and Tsuna just groans pathetically. Dark eyes watch her work.

"Did you have any trouble with the groceries, Sawada-san?" He asks, attention caught on the dirty sleeves of her shirt.

"Oh my, just call me Mama!" Nana titters, not turning around. Her grip on her knife is white knuckled.

"I had a little accident carrying all the bags across the market, but a nice young man helped me when I stumbled." She hums. The sound of metal on wood is loud. A steady clack as more and more food piles up in a sizzling pan.

"I think it was one of Tsuna's classmates. The really energetic one." She pauses in her cutting to turn a little so she can see her son.

"It's so nice to see him with friends. I worried he would be lonely forever," she says.

Reborn nods his head. It makes him appear a little like a bobble head toy

"That's only a recent development right? Do you know what caused it?"

A voice from under him interrupts Nana from replying.

"S'not recent. Couple a months now," Tsuna says, yawning. He moves his head only slightly so his face is visible under his mane of hair.

Reborn's attention switches and he looks down.

"That is recent, Tsunayoshi-kun. Especially for someone who had no friends before that." He jumps off her son's head and waddles to his own seat.

Tsuna stretches, gathering papers and homework to put away in her bag. He smiles at Nana before answering.

"I figured if I had my own friends, maybe Mom would have time for finding her own." His smile makes her giggle.

She flaps her hand a few times, blushing.

"Oh you shouldn't worry so much. That's my job! Besides, I'm much too old for close friends." Here she pauses. "That's what your father was supposed to be for."

Her smile doesn't waver. Doesn't tighten. Her son looks worried anyways.

—

Hayato gets the call while he's stocking up on his dynamite materials. He fumbles with the phone and a couple bundles of wicks before simply stuffing them in his jean pockets and hitting the accept call button with his elbow.

"Yeah?" He mumbles, one hand on the phone and the other in his pocket, trying to act nonchalant as a couple people pass him by.

"Gokudera Hayato. Vongola needs you in Japan. I'm sending over the details of your target now, do not disappoint." The voice on the other end is strangely high pitched for a mafia contact.

He feels sweat run down his brow and he rushes out of the store without paying, wicks hanging half out of his pockets and all.

"I'll be there, I won't disappoint –" He gets cut off by the dial tone and bites his tongue. He then has to hiss through clenched teeth because he can taste blood now and that's just gross.

"Fuck. How does fucking Reborn even know who I am?"

—

So it turns out Hana doesn't even have to try and find out on her own who is stalking Tsunayoshi, because the next day he comes to school with a baby on his shoulder. A baby in a suit. It's ridiculous.

This brings about quite a bit of staring on the part of the other students, and Hana can already see the chaos. Hibari is going to oppose to having a baby on campus, Tsuna is going to run from Hibari like he always does, Hibari is going to catch Tsuna like he always does, and then someone is going to get murdered.

Which is bad for Hana, because then she won't ever find out the truth about what's going on.

Although it does bring up the question of why a baby is stalking him and who let it anywhere near the disaster that is Tsunayoshi. He can barely take care of himself most days, never mind a child. And Hana hates children, so this means she's going to have to convince Kyoko to eat with someone else, and that's going to be a pain.

Who lets a student bring a baby to school anyways?

She's already reorganising her day, and it really pisses her off because this always happens when Tsunayoshi goes ahead and does something. Who does he think he is that he can just barge in and –

And something. She's not actually all that sure what he's after. And that frustrates her the most, because it's obvious he's not after popularity, no matter his sudden friendship with Kyoko.

She narrows his eyes his way and vows violent murder on him should it turn out he wants to date Kyoko or something.

—

The baby disappears before class and Tsunayoshi doesn't get murdered by Hibari, which is a pity.

—

There's a lot of paperwork involved in running a semi-official junior police group. Even when it's populated mostly by reformed and not-so reformed delinquents.

Hibari usually has someone else deal with the stacks of forms and incident reports and budget sheets, but some things he has to take care of himself. This includes stolen reports from the actual police.

This is why, when Sawada Tsunayoshi walks into the school with a baby on his shoulder, Hibari isn't waiting around a corner to bite him to death.

He's too busy with a stack of paper detailing the budding weapons industry that's trickled into Namimori through the (mostly) disbanded Yakuza. Tetsuya has been telling him for a while that they need a better information network, and this is just emphasised by the really weird reports he keeps getting.

Somehow, although the guns are getting into the town before the Discipline Committee can take care of them, they suddenly disappear before they can actually get into anyone's hands.

And then there's the fact that more and more suspicious individuals have crept into the town and surroundings. The police are working double time for a series of incidents where tourists have been stripped and tied to the front doors of the station.

A few of them have turned out to having warrants out for their arrest. Sometimes there's a note with a smiley face written on it.

Which all points in the direction of someone encroaching on his territory. The desire to chase the offending animal out of his town competes with the rage that they are finding his prey before he is.

He crumples the papers in his hands and calls for his right hand man. It's time to go hunting.

—

The Namimori Police supervisor pokes his head into the break room where a group of detectives are sitting and smoking.

"Those brats broke into the report system again, so be prepared for some more assault cases and broken property reports in the next couple days," he says.

There's a loud moan as a few of them start passing around money and complaining.

"Maybe Hibari will find whoever's got a hard-on for foreigners and shut them down," one of them says, folding a stack of bills into her pocket.

"Pfft. You're horrible Masaki. I'm more interested in what they do with the weapon reports," another says.

The supervisor frowns at them and snags a seat himself.

"Maybe if you guys actually did your job this wouldn't happen," he says.

There's a few catcalls from the rest of the room.

"You're just angry because you bet it would take longer for them to crack the encryption," Masaki says, smiling around her cigarette. He smirks and reaches into his wallet to pull out the owed money.

"Brat's getting good."

—

Tsuna goes through the day ignoring Hana's suspicious looks, the curious questions of his classmates, the really creepy smile of Takeshi's, and very deliberately ignores his own worries about Reborn.

There was no Dying Will this morning to confess to Kyoko. No embarrassing moment of standing in his underwear in front of the school idol.

Which just means Reborn has something worse planned.

Which he can deal with, and has even planned for to some extent.

What he's really worried about has more to do with the fact that he has no clue how his flames will react to being shot with a Dying Will bullet. Going back in time didn't unlock the seal on them, but it did change them.

Flames are part mentality after all, and he suddenly has a lot more in his brain than before.

It's possible that being shot with a Dying Will bullet will jump start him straight into Hyper Dying Will mode, which would be dangerous with his body in the state it's in currently.

He cringes and very carefully prods at the empty feeling where the seal is.

It's too bad that he knows his tutor well enough to know that Reborn's always going to find an excuse to shoot him, even if it's just with Dying Will bullets.

He takes a few notes in class, doodles a giant cow eating a city in the margins, crosses off a few points on his list (as well as adds a few) and quietly despairs for his life expectancy.

He's never dying again, or at least not before finding Byakuran and strangling him. People complain about one lifetime not being enough, but he would disagree, especially when it means sadistic tutors and crazy Mafioso and magic flame powers.

—

The first life is fraught with screaming, tears, and a revolving door of enemies. He likes to think it was a good life, and that he did all he could for his friends and family. He felt accomplished at the end, watching the expanding reach of the semi-reformed Mafia. It was finally peaceful. He felt like he could leave with no regrets.

His family felt differently.

He's the first to go, swept along a flood of blood that even they couldn't protect him from. He spent so many years protecting them, so many years fighting for them, it isn't until he stops fighting that they realise something is wrong.

He never wanted to be a mafia boss.

He's told the funeral is visited by the strangest group of once-enemies. The Varia, Mukuro and his gang, the Shimon family and on and on. A parade of the people he's changed with his fist and his words. Not a single fight breaks out among the variety of allies and enemies. Reborn stands in the back, aged somewhere in his late teens, and keeps one hand on a gun even as his eyes burn into the back of everyone's heads.

Hayato is a silent piano string beside him.

After the service is over, after his family has said their goodbyes and their promises and their apologies, after the sun has set and the only sound is the wind through the hundreds of white lilies, he wakes.

He sits up on his grave and looks up into Byakuran's smiling face.

"Oh Tsunayoshi-kun, you didn't think the story was over did you?"

—

Just because you have rehabilitated a god doesn't mean you have stopped him from playing with people's lives.

Tsuna finds this out first hand.

Byakuran refuses to let go of his best toy, and he might not have the ring anymore but that doesn't mean he is without power. It's a simple thing to nudge all that is Sawada Tsunayoshi back into existence.

"What are you doing this for?" Tsuna asks, fading in and out of reality. His features slide around on his face like water, and he has the rather inane thought that he probably looks like the Cheshire cat.

Byakuran's eyes squint up as he smiles, and the laugh lines on his face deepen. He's older now, they all are, but there's also something ageless in his face. Something otherworldly.

Tsuna has always wondered how much Byakuran kept of that other future, how much he remembered. He suddenly thinks it's probably a lot more than anyone previously thought.

How do you compress an infinite amount of world experiences into one being?

Badly.

—

The transition from old future to new past is slow. A long slide into an old body. Nights filled with surreal fever dreams and days spent forgetting where he is.

No one really notices if he is suddenly a little quieter, a little more sleepy. Who he is mixes with who he was, and neither of them knows who is losing the most in the exchange.

His hands start writing out answers to test questions without his input. Muscle memory has him taking strange shortcuts to school. He slowly finds his spine straightening and his mind clearing.

The first time he wakes up after his death, and truly feels like himself, even if it is just a version of himself, he instinctively reaches for his flames and ends up throwing up for an hour afterward at the slimy, empty feeling inside of himself.

This body still has the seal, still has months before the mafia will intrude upon his life, still has a Dame nickname.

Still doesn't have friends.

Well, at least one of those things he can fix.

—

He doesn't really have a plan. It's more of a promise. The beginning of a vow.

He's not going to let the mafia step all over him, he's going to gather his family close and never ever let them go. He's going to make sure they aren't fated to a life of blood and fixing old grudges.

The problem is a lot of his family is already mixed in with the mafia and nothing he does will get them out. Mukuro, Gokudera, Reborn, the Varia, all his allies and sometimes enemies, they're already involved.

The mafia is inescapable.

So he has to destroy the mafia. From the inside.

—

Kensuke Mochida stands by the school gates and waits for Sasagawa Kyoko to arrive. He's popular, and she's popular, and by order of the school hierarchy gods they should be perfect together.

She comes running up to gates sweaty, limping and gasping, not gliding in perfect composure like she should be. Behind her runs her brother and Dame-Tsuna.

Mochida's eyes narrow at the three of them and he silently curses the other boys' existence. He can't ask Kyoko out with her brother there, and he knows it's Dame-Tsuna's fault the three of them have been together so often. He grinds his teeth.

This is the fifth day he's had to turn away without getting the prize he wants, and it's wearing his patience thin. To make it worse, his perfect girlfriend is starting to become not so perfect. Running around with idiots like some sort of tomgirl.

He can't do anything about the school's champion boxer, but he can definitively fix whatever made the social pariah try and climb up the social ladder.

Sawada Tsunayoshi will pay for standing in Mochida's way.

—

Takeshi breaks his arm practicing after school. He didn't mean to, was told by Tsuna and Hana and even Kyoko not to go too hard. Not to push himself too much.

It's not so much that he doesn't listen so much as he, well, doesn't listen.

Tsuna and Kyoko have their insane running, and even Hana has her archery. He has always had baseball, but lately it seems like baseball hasn't had him. He keeps slowing down.

With friends who are progressing more and more, how can he let himself get worse?

The sick crunch of his bone echoes his own through his mind like funeral bells. What is he without baseball?

He sits there with his arm cradled to his chest in shock and feels a hand on his shoulder.

He blinks tears back and looks up at the blurry form of Tsuna. He's panting a little, obviously having run from the opening of the baseball fence, and he has such a scared look on his face that at first Takeshi thinks something must have happened. Tsuna's mom must be sick, or something must have happened to Kyoko.

It isn't until he registers Tsuna's panicked cries that it seeps in.

Oh.

—

The answer is that without baseball Takeshi is still Takeshi. He's still Tsuna's friend.

—

Hana watches as Takeshi and Tsuna talk in the classroom and narrows her eyes in thought. They seem closer somehow, even cheerful, despite the fact that Takeshi walked in with a cast on his arm and excuses to his baseball friends.

Takeshi leans against Tsuna's desk like some overprotective gargoyle, providing a screen against the rest of the class even though he should be the one needing protection right now.

It's suspicious.

She ignores Kyoko's quiet laughter beside her and silently adds another mark in the "Shit that's weird about Sawada" list.

—

That night when Tsuna is done with his homework and Nana has put away the evening snack, Reborn hops onto his bed and takes out a well-remembered booklet.

"The Mafia's guide to Healthy and Responsible Relationships? Really?" he asks, laughing. He gets the book chucked at his head in answer.

"Read it, you'll need it with how fast you seem to be gathering guardians already. Which you really shouldn't be without unlocking your flames." Here Reborn glares at Tsuna suspiciously.

Tsuna pretends confusion.

"Flames?" he asks, nose scrunched up and head tilted.

"I'm so happy you asked." Reborn smirks, bringing up his gun.

Tsuna doesn't even have time to dodge.

—

Reborn watches Tsunayoshi lay on the ground, still and silent. Some might say that he's playing with fire by risking the boy having no regrets in that split second he recognised the gun, but Reborn is smarter.

He's had to watch Tsuna dodge bullet after bullet, always conveniently somewhere else when Reborn tries and orchestrates a Dying Will rebirth.

The look in his eyes isn't so much someone fearing for his life, so much as what comes later.

Reborn doesn't have to worry about Tsunayoshi not having regrets. For some reason the boy is carrying his regrets like a lover's locket, always constant and close to his heart.

Sure enough, a small flame sprouts on the boy's forehead, swaying in a non-existent wind. It's a bright and pure sky flame, but Reborn narrows his eyes anyways.

It's slow, syrupy. For a second it looks like it's fighting itself. There's slight refraction visible in the edges.

The body takes a breath and an inferno blazes, sudden. Reborn flinches back as the pure sky flames suddenly break with the chime of a bell. His heart tries to crawl up into his soft palate, and he actually lets shock creep up his face.

Like a gaping wound the boy's flames are cracked down the middle, and from the gash purple mist flames bleed out.

Tsuna opens his bleeding eyes.

—

Reborn stands there and for a second, for a long second, he thinks he's going to have to actually shoot the last living Vongolan heir. But the bleeding stops, the laceration in the flames slowly stitch up, and the orange comes back. There's a slow mix of colour before the mist flames are reintegrated, but the finished product is almost all sky.

He holds his breath as Tsunayoshi stands up; clothing burned up, and walks out the bedroom door. The boy is unnerving in the silence. There's no yelling of regret into the sky, no furious running.

He tips his hat down and follows.

—

There's a pounding in his blood, screaming for something. There's a haze in his eyes and a quietness to his thoughts.

A film of purple sweeps everything away as that a raging inferno keeps him going.

He is purpose defined, determination personified. He won't stop, he won't rest, he will march towards the sunset until he can finally, finally –

Wrap his hands around Byakuran's skinny neck and shake him.

—

The boy walks out of the city, pointing northwest. He walks and walks until his feet bleed and Reborn's mouth twists.

Eventually they hit a body of water that can't be crossed, that's too large to go around, and he watches Tsunayoshi stay at the edge of the shore and stare out as if it was an ocean he was calculating how to swim.

The flames started sputtering a while ago, halfway across town, but it is only until the boy stops to look to where he's going that they truly die.

There's a deathly silence in the air before Tsunayoshi starts laughing, hysterically. He spins around, sees Reborn standing there, and trails off.

"Wow, that was one extreme sleepwalking episode," Tsuna says, still grinning.

The sound of Reborn's grinding teeth follow him as he runs the whole way back home, dodging bullets.

—

When Ryohei and Kyoko show up the next day for their run, they are subjected to the worrying sight of Tsuna limping to the gate covered in bruises.

"Tsuna-kun!" Kyoko yelps, anxiously. Her hands hover over his aching skin. He flashes a tired smile her way and simply yawns.

Ryohei on the other hand pauses to take in his whole figure and frowns.

"Very un-EXTREME, Sawada-san! Kyoko JUST got better, and now you follow her example!" he yells, waving his hands.

Tsuna snorts while Kyoko sputters out denials, but he answers anyways.

"Trust me, it was worth it." He pats his chest, where an inferno awaits, and smiles at his friends.

"Maybe one day I'll show you. Besides, it's not that bad." He showcases that by bending down to stretch out his legs.

Ryohei laughs, not really understanding but happy that it's nothing serious and that they can continue their routine.

The two siblings stand there in relief, bookends to the center that is Tsuna. In the early morning light the thin glow of them could be mistaken for the sunrise.

—

Hayato stands on the hot tar of the airport's arrival area and desperately smokes the only cigarette he's had for twenty-four hours. His flight was delayed three times, and the nicotine withdrawal hasn't helped his stress headache in the least.

He's got a beat-up backpack at his feet and the remaining of his savings in his pocket. His dynamite is locked up back in Italy, and the feeling of being unarmed slips down his back.

All in all he is in the worst mood possible to meet with a baby Sky. He has to stock up on his explosives again, has to find someplace to get some more cash, has to find someplace to sleep this night and the next, and he has to do all this while going to middle school.

His nose twitches, and he snarls at the ground.

Fucking Sawada Tsunayoshi. Who the fuck does he think he is, becoming the boss for something as great as Vongola without even going to mafia school. He's a civilian, a middle schooler, he's never had to claw his way up from the very underbelly of the world's underworld.

In other words, unworthy.

Oh, he has no misconceptions that Vongola would actually let him kill its heir, but that doesn't mean he can't seriously try.

If nothing else he can put "killed the worst heir in the history of Vongola" on his grave.

—

Tsuna is walking home, alone for once. The siblings had a family gathering they need to go to, and Hana never walks with him anyways. Takeshi stays behind to talk with the baseball coach.

He walks slowly, carefree. The day is nice, and he has nothing to do besides go home and get stared at by Reborn.

He very deliberately ignores the dark form following him and ducks down a side street.

Two boys go into an alley.

One continues on to the next street, but the other stays for a while, stunned.

—

"People aren't things, Mochida. You can't win them as prizes."

—

Kensuke Mochida doesn't show up the next day and his parents call to say he's recuperating from a broken wrist.

Hibari narrows his eyes at the report and drags his gaze back up at Tetsuya in silent question.

"It's a legitimate absence, we checked," Tetsuya says in answer, and his eyes just narrow some more.

"Then I don't see why I'm wasting my time with this," Hibari says, leaning back. His right hand man nods.

"Kensuke Mochida was flagged for an increase in aggression in the past few weeks. We believe he got the injury while fighting another student," Tetsuya reports.

Hibari snorts.

"You brought this to me over a broken wrist?" Although he looks bored, there's a glint in Hibari's eyes at the answer. Tetsuya knows better than to bother him with small stuff, so there has to be something bigger at play.

"More about who we think might have broken it. You flagged Sawada Tsunayoshi as a person of interest, and we have reasonable suspicion that he was the one to do it. Considering Mochida is much larger, not to mention trained, I thought you would like to know." And sure enough, Hibari leans forward, suddenly interested.

Tetsuya smiles.

"Considering Sawada has had issues with bullying before, and has never physically retaliated, you have to wonder where he got his skills and nerve," he finishes, smug.

Hibari is already out the door.

—

Tsuna feels a shiver run down his spine and smartly decides to not go out after school like he had planned. Letting Reborn lecture him about the mafia command structure suddenly feels like the best use of his time.

It's not a lie either, after years as a mafia boss it's actually really interesting to see what bullshit Reborn considers important to share. This way he doesn't have to worry about Reborn shooting him in frustration when he takes too long to get home, and he gets a good night's entertainment.

He very deliberately ignores the waves of interest he can practically feel from the direction of the reception room. He gathers his things together as the last bell rings, says a quick goodbye to his friends, and unlatches the window.

Hibari opens the door to the sight of Tsuna jumping out the window, the sound of the class' yells. Kyoko rushes forward, a step behind Takeshi and watches as Tsuna lands and rolls forward, only to start a quick run towards the gate.

"Wait! Tsuna!" Takeshi yells, clambering on the windowsill.

"Yamamoto-kun!" Kyoko yelps, latching onto his shirt. Both of them go tumbling out of the window. It's only a second story luckily, and they pick themselves up with some minor scratches. They run laughing after him.

The rest of the classroom crowds around the window in shock, before a dark figure unlatches the other window and jumps through.

Hibari lands on the balls of his feet and takes off in pursuit.

—

Tsuna, Kyoko, and Takeshi enter the house gasping. They had to take a few unusual shortcuts, including one that took them over and through a few yards, but they made it without Hibari catching them.

It's a good thing Tsuna and Kyoko have been running the past weeks, and that Takeshi is so athletic to start with.

They knock off their shoes and Tsuna yells a greeting into the hallway as they go tumbling against each other.

"In the kitchen Tsu-kun! Bring your friends," his mother calls back, and he stops suddenly, forcing Kyoko and Takeshi to back peddle a little. His intuition is suddenly screaming at him and he takes the next few steps slowly.

It's not the same feeling as when Reborn is lying in wait for him, but it's kinda similar. A sudden heaviness on his lungs.

"Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko asks, worried.

He simply pushes open the door to the kitchen.

His mother is sitting at the table, drinking tea from the beat up old tin she keeps for special occasions. She's smiling slightly, and for once it looks genuine. She's wearing the type of clothing she tends to reserve for going out.

Across from her is an older Japanese woman in a beat up leather jacket. It's obvious right off the bat that they are related, the same nose, the same eyes, the same light brown hair. She has hers swept up in a low ponytail, slightly longer than his mother's.

Side by side they could pass for sisters.

"Um." He blinks at them, for once legitimately confused. His mother jumps up and beams at him.

"Tsu-kun! Let me introduce you to your aunt Moriko."


	2. Chapter 2

Won't be adding any new chapters for a while. Internship just started, so I'll be really busy for 3 weeks. Also commissions, which, shameless plug, you can check on over at my tumblr ( .com)

Beta-ed by Tsurai.

* * *

Reborn is off dealing with a troublesome mole, trying to beef up the surveillance in the city now that there's going to be an active Vongola presence, when some of the beetles he left on Tsuna return to him. He leans back against the alley he's using as cover and listens to the recorded messages. The bugs only have a limited range, but they make up for it by being so small and unnoticeable.

The idea that people think he can talk to the insects amuses him too.

There's static for a few seconds before an unfamiliar voice starts speaking.

" –the estate was nearby actually, until we moved twenty years ago. Mama wanted to work more closely to Tokyo, and we had an expansion that needed supervising."

Reborn tips his fedora down a little more and feels a frown start to tug at the corners of his lips. Nana's file showed no living family. It just makes the case for stronger information gathering in the city, if something that basic could be overlooked.

How Iemitsu missed it is a mystery. It means either Iemitsu is even more of an idiot then her thought, or Nana has something to hide.

He knows which he thinks most likely.

"Wow, it must be pretty big," and that's Yamamoto Takeshi's voice. Reborn feels a headache starting to develop. He packs up his bags and starts heading back to the house.

Bad enough there's an unknown in the house, if Yamamoto is there then so is Tsunayoshi. And Reborn isn't even there to shoot a Dying Will bullet if the boy needs to fight back.

"Haha, kinda yeah! I've only recently been able to take some time off, which is why –

* * *

" – me and Nana decided to have a little reunion. It's been a long time." the woman, his aunt says.

Tsuna sits in shock and listens to his mother and friends laugh. He hasn't said anything since he walked in and probably seems so very rude.

More family? On his mother's side? That he never knew about, past or future?

He turns his eyes to his mother and pleads for an explanation through facial expression alone. His mother sighs.

"Your grandparents and I never had a very good relationship. When I left to marry your father, it was with the attitude that I would never see them again." She swishes her tea around in her teacup a little morosely.

Takeshi and Kyoko look at each other awkwardly.

"Uh, would you like us to leave you three to your catching up?" Kyoko asks, nervously.

Nana and the other woman, Moriko, laugh.

"No that's ok! It's not a family secret or anything." Nana smiles at them. "And I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of Mori-chan in the weeks to follow. Enough years have passed that tempers have cooled, even if they would prefer that I come back."

Tsuna makes a dying whale noise.

"Come back?" he yelps. Moriko smiles.

"Well, they were really angry I didn't succeed your grandmother—" here she pauses.

"Which meant I had to come back from university to do it instead," Moriko says sardonically. Nana winces.

"Sorry about that but, well, you are much better at business than I ever was," she says. Moriko waves a hand negligently and takes a sip of her seat.

Tsuna watches them with wide eyes. He's not sure why the idea of his mother as the boss of a business is so strange, but it feels like the last thing he could imagine her as.

"That's so cool though!" Kyoko says with a smile, sparkles in her eyes. "What sort of business does your family own?"

Moriko smiles.

"We mostly deal with import/export of luxury goods. Lately we also deal with the buying and selling of smaller companies in hopes of breaking up some of the trade monopoly in the area. A lot of economic stuff, basically."

Takeshi whistles.

"I have no idea what means," he says, impressed.

Nana laughs.

"Neither did I as a teenager. Partly why I left, who wants to do economics for the rest of their life?" she says with a wink, dodging the smack Moriko goes to give her in response.

"Why now?" Tsuna asks, mind still tumbling around in circles. His mother and aunt share a look.

"Certain things in the company, and in the family in particular, meant that it was about time we put old grudges behind," Moriko says with an awkward smile.

"I guess that makes sense," Kyoko says slowly.

He thinks there has to be something more to it. After all, last time Tsuna didn't even know about his mother's side of the family. Which means that something about the things he's changed prompted their emergence.

Change is good, he doesn't want to live his life exactly as he did before. But somehow, this one change is so far from what he was imagining that it's almost disorienting.

He doesn't know how this is going to change the future. What the consequences are going to be.

And that worries him.

* * *

Hibari prowls the streets, and if he punishes rule breakers more harshly than usual he blames it on the calibre of thugs and not the fact that prey of his has escaped. Sawada can't escape, he will come to school and face Hibari, or else Hibari will drag him to school and force him to face him. He is simply…irked that the boy was able to make it to the relative safety of his house before Hibari could catch him. It seems unbelievable.

He is faster than Sawada, that much is clear. He has just as much stamina if not more. He should, theoretically, know the city like he knows his own name. Instinctively.

And yet the only reason the three got away was because they were able to use shortcuts that even he wasn't aware existed. At one point he got close enough to take a swing at the younger boy, only for him to duck and swing himself over a fence and then veer abruptly backwards, snag the other two, and run down a side street. It had given them the precious few seconds they had needed to reach the boy's house.

The other two are inconsequential, although if they ever picked up a weapon they would at least have stamina on their side. He grinds his teeth.

And then hits a gang member trying to sneak up on him so hard his teeth fly out and Hibari gets blood on his tonfas. He watches the man go down and just feels his bloodlust rise.

Sawada Tsunayoshi is obviously skilled, and he has been hiding that skill. Hibari would find out for himself just how deep those skills run.

He's looking forward to it.

Nana and Moriko sit after the children leave and Tsuna heads to his room in silence. The steady tick tock of the clock is the only sound for a long second before Moriko finally lifts her eyes from the table.

"Don't worry, Nana, the family will take care of this."

Nana smiles with a tightness to her eyes.

"I just hope it's worth it."

* * *

Hayato enrols in Namimori Middle School and glares at the secretary, the principal, the teacher showing him around, the feral cat nosing around the courtyard. He glares at the sun and at the uniform and at the whitewashed walls.

Fucking middle school.

* * *

Somewhere in Tokyo there is a dark office lit by glowing screens. A greying man with sharp eyes sits at the only occupied desk and smokes a crumpled cigarette.

There's worry in the corner of his mouth, in the creased fabric of his collar, but his hands are steady.

His hands are always steady.

He taps on manicured finger on the folder set before him and sighs.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Moriko."

* * *

Tsuna has a dream he forgets the next morning, where Byakuran is offering him a throne of sugar and he keeps trying to refuse.

Eventually, the other boy simply pours water over it and dissolves the whole structure, flooding the room and forcing him to wake up.

It is, by and large, not even the worst dream he has had with Byakuran as subject.

* * *

Tsuna gets to school just as the bell rings, hoping that Hibari's sense of order won't let him keep Tsuna from his classes. Unfortunately that's not meant to be.

"Sawada." Hibari steps out of the shadow of the gate and in front of him, blocking his view of the relative safety of the school. Tsuna freezes.

Dark eyes stare into his soul. A tonfa gets shoved in his face.

"For violence inflicted on another student I will bite you to death."

* * *

Hana leans out the window and goggles at the scene on the front courtyard.

"What the– Hey Kyoko, Tsuna's fighting Hibari," she says a little incredulously. There's a gasp behind her before her friend joins her.

"Oh no," Kyoko cries, not looking surprised in the least. Hana stares at her.

"What," she says flatly. "What did Sawada do?"

Kyoko looks guilty, and shifts a little where she stands.

"You don't– This is because of yesterday?" Hana asks. Her eyebrows raise and her eyes are a little wide now. "You mean he didn't catch you guys!?"

All this noise catches the attention of the rest of class, and a few other heads poke out. The teacher is suspiciously absent.

"Hey! What's Hibari doing to Tsuna?" Yamamoto asks, almost all the way out the window besides Hana. She cringes a little and latches on the end of his collar.

Down below them, the tiny figure of Tsuna waves his arms about beseechingly, dodging a few hits from Hibari before careening away to try to run to the doors. He's intercepted again and the dance continues.

"Hmm, he's not doing too bad," a voice says from behind them, and they turn to see Ryohei, still in his boxing uniform.

"Ryohei-ni! What are you doing here?" Kyoko squeaks. Her brother laughs.

"I heard the yelling and came to investigate what was going on to the EXTREME," he says, nudging her over to fit by the window. Hana on the other hand finally gets a good grip on Yamamoto and hauls him up, growling lowly under her breath.

"You can go fight for Tsuna's life if you want, but don't do it by jumping out a window again. I don't want the sight of your splattered corpse haunting me for life," she says, irritated.

The look on Takeshi's face is creeping her out, because although his lips say amused his eyes say murderous.

"Hmm, his form is a little sloppy, but he has good instincts. Look, see how he's aiming for Hibari-san's kidneys? He can't reach the face so he goes for a more vulnerable area," Ryohei says to his sister, demonstrating by phantom punching an invisible foe.

And now it's Ryohei creeping her out. She watches incredulously as Kyoko nods diligently, looking for all points and purposes like she's making a mental note of the best way to punch someone.

A hissed breath from Takeshi has them turning their attention back to the ground. It looks like Hibari finally got a hit in, and Tsuna goes sprawling.

Ryohei leans out the window.

"Go Sawada! You can EXTREMELY do it!" he yells.

Kyoko joins in.

"Tsuna-kun! I believe in you!"

Hana palms her face and moans. _Idiots_ , all of them.

* * *

Hayato ditches his guide halfway to his new classroom and stews in his anger. There's an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips and a full pack tucked into his pant pockets, even though the woman who handed him his schedule warned him that the student run Discipline Committee would take offense to it.

Why it's the students who would take offense to it more then the teachers Hayato doesn't even give a shit. He's already decided to ignore every single dress code, behavioural code and student rule possible.

Maybe he'll get kicked out before he dies of boredom.

He finds his homeroom; double-checks the sloppiness of his shirt, nods, and kicks down the door.

Thirty heads turn his way, clustered around an open window. The fluffy head of the civilian heir he is supposed to be testing is conspicuously missing.

Off to a great fucking start.

* * *

Tsuna feints left, only for a metal tonfa to swing out in front of him and force him back again, bouncing a little as he pinballs around Hibari. There's sweat in his eyes and his body is not used to this, even if his brain keeps giving him all these ideas on how to finish the fight.

Once upon a time he would take this fight to the sky, letting gravity do most of the work for him when it came time to descend and let loose. Using his flames to bolster everything, his strength, his timing, his speed. Later, when grand Flame battles were less regular, he fought with a pair of specialty brass knuckles and a non-lethal Flame-powered gun. By then his reputation did the most of the fighting for him.

Now, he has to rely on his body's innate abilities.

He brings up an arm just fast enough to catch an overpowered hit aimed for his face, skids backwards a little to give himself a little room and then drops down to avoid the follow up swing. He sweeps a leg out as Hibari advances, more to give himself the room to flow back up into his guard, snap a hand out aiming for the left shoulder joint.

Hibari is one step ahead though, and bends back, right leg coming up for a round kick. Tsuna curses.

They disengage again and where Tsuna would like to be able to stop and catch his breath, Hibari goes on the offensive once again.

"Fuck!" Tsuna seems to be forever retreating from Hibari's bloodlust. Arm up, grab tonfa, get kicked. Leg out, elbow jab to the side that almost lands, skip backwards. Jab to the left, cringe from Hibari's creepy smile, get a tonfa to the face in answer.

Try and run to the door, be interceded. Try to run to the gate, be interceded.

Finally, half from frustration and half from desperation, Tsuna goes on the offensive.

* * *

"You're just in time, new kid," Hana says dryly when it becomes obvious that no one else is going to say anything. "You get to watch the two craziest people at school try and kill each other.

The bleach-blond delinquent blinks at her, a weirdly blank look on his face, before scowling.

"What?" he asks.

She makes a general sweep to the gaggles of children crowded around the windows, a more specific wave to Kyoko, Ryohei, and Takeshi half-hanging out the window yelling encouragements, and shrugs.

"Ouch," Kyoko murmurs, and there's a shocked gasp from the other students. Tsuna probably got another tonfa to the face then. She doesn't turn her attention back, instead choosing to watch the newcomer pick his way towards the windows.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and slouches all the way there, but once he gets a glimpse at what's actually going on in the courtyard he abruptly straightens.

"The fuck," he says, watching the two figures crash together before jumping apart. Hana lets a small wry smile creep onto her face.

"Exactly." She finally turns back to Tsuna and his fight.

"No, I mean seriously. What the fuck. I was just down there. I literally just walked in. How did I miss this?" Her eyes sweep back to his face and she has to chuckle at his freaked out expression.

"They just started," a student to their left says. The delinquent doesn't even look away from the fight down below.

"Impossible, they've already dug up the turf. Based on injuries alone this looks to be going on for at least ten minutes. I don't know whether to be impressed by the intensity or disappointed in their stamina," he mumbles.

Hana wrinkles her nose. Ugh, one more crazy person. This class just seems to be filling up with them.

"Who's fighting anyways?" the boy asks.

"Hibari-san is fighting Sawada Tsunayoshi!" another student pipes up from nearby. The delinquent stills.

"Five to one odds on Hibari." A kid in front with a truly atrocious haircut yells, waving some yen around. A few of the students start rifling around in their pockets.

Hana side-eyes him so hard she can feel a headache forming.

* * *

Hayato's brain takes a few seconds to reboot. Sawada? As in the mafia heir he is supposed to be testing? As in the civilian, useless, ignorant of the underworld fourteen-year-old boy.

He casts his eyes back down and curses silently.

That is not a civilian battle. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that people have been telling him consistently that regular middle school is so different he would have bet that this was a mafia school dispute.

Picking out Sawada now that he knows he is there isn't hard. He moves with less grace than his attacker, but he's fast on his feet and seems to have good instincts. He's also insanely fond of tricky moves, the type that show's he fights tactically and cleverly instead of relying on strength. He runs away a lot.

Despite this, he also doesn't appear to be afraid to take a pounding. He stands firm when the darker form pushes forward.

The fuck. Seriously. What the fuck. Where did this kid learn how to fight?

He was supposed to be testing an untrained civilian. Looking for untapped potential.

But this isn't a civilian. Isn't some weak and meek boy.

Although, now that he looks closer, he's also not in mafia shape. Too slow, sluggish, as if he knows what he is supposed to do but just can't get his body to react properly.

It's enough that he is able to hold his own against the much, much stronger dark haired attacker, but only just.

* * *

The teacher comes back and yells at them to sit down. Ryohei gets straight up yelled at to leave. Takeshi very reluctantly does so, lingering at the window and watching Tsuna. Something deep in his belly is screaming at him to go down. For a closer look or to join in he doesn't really know.

He sits at his desk but doesn't even bother with paying attention. There's something there, in the back of his mind when he thinks about Tsuna and fighting. Something that feels like it's trying to click into place.

It would make sense if he wanted to go down to stop him from being hurt. They are friends after all, one of Takeshi's few outside of envious baseball teammates. But it's more then that.

He doesn't want to stop Tsuna from being hurt so much as being right besides him when he is, being there, side by side. The idea of being besides Tsuna as they fight against a stronger foe is exciting.

His brain slowly turns. Does he want to fight Hibari? Is he feeling jealous that he isn't in Tsuna's place?

No, he never really had a desire for fighting before, not like Ryohei-san. And he still thinks Hibari is pretty scary.

So something about Tsuna. Something about Tsuna makes him want to fight beside him. Something about Tsuna makes Takeshi want to fight.

* * *

Reborn frowns down at the school, binoculars glued to his face. Although the little spat between the school prefect and Tsunayoshi is interesting, and very informative, it also sets back his plans a little.

He can't have Tsuna fight the Smoking Bomb and win his trust if he's not in top shape. Not to mention he's screwing up the guardianship order.

First he ends up befriending Yamamoto Takeshi and Sasagawa Ryohei way ahead of schedule, and now he seems to have caught the interest of Hibari Kyoya.

Not to mention the girls!

Reborn feels his teeth grind.

Normally he would let it be, since Tsunayoshi needs some sort of civilian connection if they want him growing up somewhat sane.

But Kyoko has already showcased the potential for sun flames, which creates a conflict for the guardianship with her brother, and the other one, Kurokawa Hana, is much too suspicious to be safe. She's even tried to follow him when he's doing surveillance.

If he could be sure of their flame potential, and fix the pesky competition between the sibling's flames, maybe he can find some use for them. Its either that or orchestrate some sort of falling out.

He rubs his forehead.

Somehow either option sounds like a bad idea.

* * *

Tsuna trudges back up the stairs to class, thirty minutes late, aching all over and slowly dripping blood onto his shirt from a bloody nose. He would wipe it, but then he would just have blood on his hands and that seems unsanitary.

He opens the, strangely broken, door, and has to stop at the look of his classmates. A lot of them start whispering as soon as he pops his head in, and a few of them go so far as to gasp out loud.

Takeshi jumps up, his seat scraping against the floor, and looks like he's about to go running at Tsuna. Kyoko looks no better, hand to her mouth and leaning forward. Hana just slaps a hand to her forehead and groans.

Tsuna rubs the back of his head and coughs.

"Sawada-san!" yells the teacher. "You late. And bleeding. Go to the nurse's office for goodness sake."

Yamamoto rushes forward. "I'll take him!" he yells, dragging Tsuna back out. A yelp from inside signifies Kyoko following him.

Tsuna blinks at his two friends and laughs quietly.

"It's not that bad!" he protests, waving away their concerned hands. Nonetheless he turns towards the nurse's office and starts limping there.

"Not that bad! Tsuna-kun, you're bleeding!" Kyoko says. Her eyes are wide and worried. Takeshi on the other hand looks vaguely murderous.

Tsuna smiles at them. "Better than a lot of others Hibari has faced can say. And nothing is broken!"

He's absurdly proud of that.

"What was he even mad about in the first place?" Takeshi asks, tugging one of Tsuna's arms over his shoulders.

Tsuna laughs nervously.

"Ah well," he says. Narrowed eyes turn his way.

"What," both of them say, eerily in sync. Tsuna rubs his head again.

"I might have, uh, that is to say…" he mumbles.

"Just spit it out already," Kyoko sighs.

"I might have, hypothetically, broken Mochida's wrist," he finally says.

The three of them pause.

"What!"

* * *

Hayato blinks at the empty doorway and bangs his head down on the desk.

* * *

Nana hums as she sets about preparing a feast. Beside her, her sister diligently chops vegetables. Both of them sway with the soft sounds of music coming from the radio.

"So tell me about this guest of yours," Moriko asks, transferring the vegetables to the frying pan. Nana thinks about it for a while.

"It's hard to describe. Young, younger than you would expect for how mature he is. He feels very much like, well, like Father," she eventually says.

Moriko raises an eyebrow.

"Dangerous?" she asks sardonically. Nana nods. She brings a hand up to her mouth and chews at the nails.

"And then there's the note he gave me," she says. "It was blank, you know? But at the moment that he gave it to me, it seemed like it had the most convincing letter written on it."

The radio crackles with static for a second before another song flits through.

There's quiet in the kitchen for a few minutes before Moriko opens her mouth again.

"That does sound like one of ours. Or at least, like our cousins back west."

Nana nods. There's a tense line in her shoulders and neck, and Moriko eyes her for a second before snorting.

"Don't worry, if it is one of ours, I'll straighten it out. Even if it's not, you have our support," she says.

"Thank you, Mori-chan," Nana says with a watery smile.

"I'm not so sure anymore that he's from our side anyways. He doesn't really act like you would think he would if he was. And…" she trails off.

"Yes?" Moriko prompts, shifting her weight expectantly.

"Tsuna is different. He's been different for a while now. But after Reborn showed up...Well, it's just been worse," she says. Moriko hums.

"Different how?" she asks.

"He used to be so jumpy. In a rush everywhere, a little bit of a clutz. But now. Well, it feels like nothing surprises him. Except maybe, for you," Nana says with a frown.

"And one day he suddenly had friends, and a jogging schedule, and better grades. It's like he's skipped right over the learning phase when it comes to good habits. And yet, he doesn't feel happy about any of it. He just acts like it's normal," she continues, words tumbling passed her lips as if they can't be held back anymore.

Moriko frowns.

"I suppose that would be worrying, if it was lined up with the rest of it. You said you had suspicions about your husband?" she ask slowly, drawing it out in thought.

"I, found things in the house. Things he really shouldn't have," Nana says, nodding.

Moriko thinks for a second, before nodding resolutely.

"I'll take a look over things, make sure it's disposed of properly," she says, waving away her sister's grateful look.

"Thank you," Nana says with a smile. Moriko winks.

"That's what older sisters are for, after all."

* * *

Reborn sits on Tsuna's bed as the boy completes his homework, and goes over his approach in his head. He has options certainly, but he doesn't like not having all the cards in his hand. But he isn't the strongest hitman in the world for nothing, so he knows he'll be able to adapt.

It's about time he addressed the boy's physical training anyways.

"You should invite your friends tomorrow, Tsunayoshi-kun." He says, tracking the way the boy tenses. He lifts his head and stares at Reborn for a second in suspicion.

"Why?" The boy asks slowly, and Reborn has to smile at his expression.

"We're going to be playing a game, and will need more players to join," he says, mood lifting at the narrow look he gets in return.

"What kind of game?" Tsunayoshi asks, putting down his homework to give Reborn his complete attention.

Reborn primly crosses his legs and doesn't answer. Instead he shifts Leon into his gun and points it at the boy.

"Pay more attention to your studies, Tsunayoshi-kun, it wouldn't do for you to fall behind."

* * *

The police supervisor frowns down at the scene, before turning his eyes towards the junior hovering near his elbow.

"And this was found when, exactly?" he asks. The other man laughs and pushes up his glasses.

"2 a.m. this morning, sir. A worker reported it," he says.

Satoshi hums.

In front of him, a mountain of destroyed guns sit gleaming. Most of them look like they have been bent in half, but a few lucky souls also have scorch marks decorating their exteriors.

It looks almost comical.

"Now, what do you want to bet that this has something to do with those reports of missing yakuza weapons?" one of the men says. Satoshi nods.

"Why destroy them though? It's so difficult to bring weapons into the country in the first place, these could fetch quite the price in certain circles," he asks rhetorically, stroking the stubble on his chin.

"Anti-gun radicals?" one of the men pipes up.

"In Japan?" Satoshi laughs, shaking his head. No, there's something more going on here.

"Hibari?" another asks. A few laughs break out.

"No, no, Hibari would dump them on the police steps. Or mail them piece by piece," he says sardonically. His eyes flicker from one corner of the warehouse to the other.

"This looks more like a 'fuck you'. I wonder if the recipient even had time to find it."

* * *

Tsuna pulls Takeshi away from the group at the end of the day and scowls a little at what he's about to do. He almost hates himself for it, but really the pros outweigh the cons in this situation.

"Hey, you busy tonight?" he asks finally, looking away from Takeshi's curious eyes. The boy hums.

"No? Why, do you have something exciting planned?" Takeshi asks. Tsuna rubs the back of his head and shrugs.

"My tutor is planning something and I have a feeling if I don't go along with it, it will become troublesome for all of us," Tsuna says, intuition screaming at him. Saying no to Reborn at this point, when he's so frustrated already, would really be a bad move.

The trick is going to be to give him something without him grabbing hold of the momentum and getting all his tricks back.

"Oooh, are we going to pull one over your weird baby tutor?" Hana asks, right behind them.

Tsuna squeaks.

"Because boy, do I have questions for you about that. What does a baby teach anyways?" she continues, leaning one arm against Tsuna and staring into his eyes. Tsuna, once again, curses his lack of height.

"Hana-chan! I'm sure he has, um, loads to teach Tsuna-kun. Like…responsibility?" Kyoko says, stepping out of her friends shadow. Tsuna hangs his head and silently curses.

He was hopping he could get away with only bringing Takeshi, who he knows at least has the mental fortitude for whatever Reborn was thinking of throwing at them. Although, now that he thinks about it…

He turns to the girls and looks them over for a second, before nodding.

"Bring workout clothing, no doubt Reborn is going to try something physically taxing. He's not, however, going to take you two seriously, since he has a bad habit of seeing what he wants to when it comes to girls," he says, ignoring Hana's scoff.

"And if you could bring your brother, that would be great," he says to Kyoko. "We'll need as many people as possible."

* * *

The first order of business is to scout the terrain. Unfortunately, Tsuna has no idea where this supposed "game" is supposed to take place. He goes through some likely candidates before giving up on that front and stocking up on portable defense.

This means he grabs a backpack and fills it with frozen water bottles. Hana raises her eyebrows as he shrugs the, much heavier, bag onto his shoulders. He shrugs.

He has learnt in his long years that the best defense is usually water. To drink, to slow enemies, to extinguish actual fire, to shock allies, to fill with water balloons and pelt the Varia with, etc.

Plus, if it ends up being an endurance test he can ditch the bag and have nice cold water to drink afterwards.

They then get themselves ready. This involves stopping by everyone's houses to get changed, inform parents of whereabouts, and start on thoroughly stretching muscles.

The last thing Tsuna wants is cramps in the middle of one of Reborns games.

The five of them walk to Tsuna's house in relatively good spirits, only to stop at the door.

There's a note scrawled in Reborn's precise penmanship tapped to the wood.

 _Hello Tsunayoshi-kun and friends!_

 _There's going to be a fun game to play, but first you will need to find me! I'm waiting for you with your competitor in a nice open field. You have thirty minutes._

 _Good luck!_

 _-Reborn-sensei._

Tsuna growls and rips it off.

"Wow, your sensei is a strange one huh," Takeshi says. Tsuna just crumples the note even further.

"I vote we leave your baby-sensei to whatever weird games he wants to play, and go get something to eat downtown," Hana says sardonically. Kyoko laughs.

"But Hana-chan! I thought you wanted to ask him some questions?" she asks. Hana just snorts.

Behind them, jogging slightly in pace, Ryohei grins.

"An EXTREME treasure hunt!" he yells in excitement.

Tsuna groans again.

* * *

They find a map and try to look for a field in-range. They don't really have a lot to go on, but even with just that they find three.

"We could split up," Kyoko says thoughtfully. Both Takeshi and Tsuna make noises of disagreement, although Takeshi looks slightly surprised when he does.

"No, that just gives him an opportunity to mess with us further," Tsuna says, thinking. They need to find a way to shrink down their options even further.

"We should check all of them!" Ryohei says. Tsuna cracks a smile.

"Not enough time." Hana mumbles, going over the map again. The note is in her other hand, and her eyes keep flickering back and forth over them.

Tsuna can't help think that either Reborn set it up so that any of them show up at is the correct answer, or neither of them is. He almost suggests picking one out of random for the spite of it.

"This one," Hana says, shaking him out of his thoughts. Her finger is pressed against one of the green specks on the map.

"Why that one?" Kyoko asks curiously.

"It's called Gēmupāku." Hana responds with a wry grin.

Tsuna smacks his head. Of course Reborn would pick a spot called "Game Park".

* * *

A white haired boy munches on colourful marshmallow cubes and watches a glowing screen. Little figures run about, dodging explosions, and he sighs in disappointment.

"Shoi-kun, I'm boooooooored," he moans. Behind him, working on a ring prototype etched with strange designs, Shoichi Irie sighs.

"Don't you have someone else to bug Byakuran-san?" he asks, nodding to where a photo rests on the wall of Sawada Tsunayoshi caught mid-turn. He's older than how he looks in this time, this reality, but that just makes the picture all the more accurate.

Byakuran sighs again, leaning back and tipping his chair so he's looking at the other boy upside down.

"But he hasn't even done anything all that interesting yet. I'm going to have to wait until the Varia show up for it to get really fun," he says with a pout.

Shoichi stops his tinkering and lifts an eyebrow. He turns away from his work and locks eyes.

"What about his mother's family?" he asks. Byakuran nods.

"Yes, that's not even something I calculated. Tsuna-kun is most certainly the most surprising mafioso," he says, then sighs again. "I'm glad I thought to research him, and tweak things this time."

"But still, there's a timeline to stick to, and I'm bored noooow," he whines.

Shoichi thinks for a few minutes, trying to figure out something that will keep Byakuran occupied but also not end in the destruction of humanity's freedom. There's very few things he can think of.

"You could…find someone else to creep on?" he asks hesitantly. He gets a sudden bad feeling at the look in his friend's eye. Byakuran jumps up and grins so hard it looks like it might crack his face.

"Of course! Yuni-chan should be alive again in this reality! You're a genius Shoi-kun."

* * *

They get to the field and are met with the smug face of Reborn. He's perched on the shoulder of Gokudera, and Tsuna really should have seen this coming.

No way Reborn would have let him avoid the other boy forever. Not that he would want to, just, he would have liked to have done it on his own terms for once.

Behind the two figures is a crate filled with sticks of dynamite. There's a white board and a scoreboard set up nearby. He has a good idea of where this is going, but he hopes he's wrong anyways.

"Good!" Reborn says. "You've made it just in time."

He clicks an ornate pocket watch shut and jumps down. Tsuna slowly edges in front of his panting friends and hikes his backpack further up his shoulders. Behind him the only one not gasping from running there is Ryohei, but even he looks like he needs a break. Tsuna hopes they won't have to jump straight into whatever insanity Reborn is cooking up.

"Haha. Wow, that was a long run." Takeshi says, hands on his knees. Tellingly, even he isn't slumping down, and is instead tracking Reborn with his eyes.

"Since you all appear to be warmed up, let me explain this game," Reborn says, pulling out a pointer stick and thumping it against the white board.

"The rules are this: No leaving the field. No calling for help outside the field. No forfeiting. The game ends when the last man is standing. Got it? Good. Let's start," he says.

"No! You haven't explained anything! What game are we even playing?" Hana yells, straightening from her exhaustion. Of all of them, she probably has the least amount of stamina.

"And is that TNT?" Kyoko asks, only to get an unlit stick smack in her face.

"It's dynamite, woman!" Gokudera yells. He's got a few more sticks unlit in his hands.

"The game is simple. Smoking Bomb here will try to kill you with his dynamite, and the last one standing will then become the boss of Vongola. You may begin," Reborn says, jumping back.

Hayato grins and lights his bombs with his cigarette.

* * *

Nana hums to herself as she sits at the kitchen table, tea and book in hand, and settles deeper into her relaxation. Without Tsuna and his tutor around, things are a lot quieter. She tries to occupy her time when her son's at school with little hobbies, but today she doesn't feel like doing much.

All her energy has been spent with the arrival of Moriko. Although she and her sister have always had a good relationship, things are still strained. There's only so many years you can be apart from someone before the comfortable rapport is lost.

And things were hard even before then, with Nana leaving and Moriko having to step up. The guilt of being a burden, but the knowledge that she had to go somewhere.

The excitement of a life outside of her strict family. Of the lies and the stress.

And here she thought she left that world behind.

Instead she just walked back into it, this time with a child and years of complacency.

"FUCK!" Hana screams. The ground behind her explodes. She grabs another water bottle from a running Takeshi and chugs half of it before flinging the rest in an arc to defuse some passing dynamite.

"Haha, this is quite the interesting game!" Takeshi yells back, weaving out of the way of even more dynamite to try to reach Tsuna, who's taking the brunt of it in the front.

Ryohei wallops another flying bomb out of the air with his fists, and sticks very closely to his sister. Kyoko is standing with the backpack of water and very quickly opening bottle after bottle, every once in awhile throwing them at a hollering friend.

Hana grits her teeth and continues with her flanking. This would be a lot easier if they could throw the water in bigger spurts. Being able to soak the exchange student and his dynamite instead of trying to defuse them in the air would be so much better.

The field is empty of anything they could use as a container though, and the only other thing in the backpack are a few small grocery items Tsuna's mom asked him to pick up.

She blinks for a second, before swerving back towards Kyoko and Ryohei.

"Kyoko-chan! Switch!" she yells. Her friend sees her determined look and nods, pulling her brother further afield. They start a moving screen, distracting from Hana and the backpack.

Hana skids to a stop at the pile of open water bottles, some of them still slightly frozen, and picks the largest one. Then she gets to work.

* * *

Hayato is having the time of his life. He gets to show off his hard earned skills, take out some of his frustration, and doesn't even have to kill anyone. He takes back everything bad he said about Reborn and the Vongola heir.

This is actually almost fun.

Or course, he's still riding some of that righteous anger still, angry at this puny civilian kid getting a free ride up the mafia ladder, but the excitement is slowly overriding that.

Reborn chose him to test the kid, this is basically his big break for the mafia. With a recommendation from Vongola and Reborn he'll be set in no time.

That is if he can actually win this stupid game.

"Stop running away!" he snaps at the small form of Sawada, lighting another set of bombs and letting them fly. His accuracy is perfect, but none of them have hit yet.

And the other boy in the front is almost just as bad, although a few have singed him. He's still laughing and calling it a game though, which just makes Hayato want to try harder and blast the naïve look off his face.

He's mostly isn't paying attention to those in the back, besides lobbing a few there way when the situation calls for it. He figures he can down them after he deals with the real threats.

That's why, when one of the girls yells a warning and the two boys in front jump away to the sides, he's completely unprepared for the sight that greets him.

Braced against her brother Kyoko smiles and shakes the large two-liter. She has a line of sight right to Gokudera and his dynamite stash, and takes great pleasure in aiming and uncapping her bottle. Behind her and her brother Hana raises double bottles and laughs.

"Oh it's on!"

* * *

Getting blasted by exploding water bottles is not fun, Hayato finds. He stands there for a second, flabbergasted by what tastes like vinegar and chalk dripping down his face and blinks for a few seconds.

"Hah! Take that!" One of the girls yells, pointing to the small form of Reborn hanging back. "That means we won right?"

Hayato jerks.

"No way! I still got plenty of dynamite to finish you guys off!" He yells back, overturning his crate of explosives to back up his words. A few of them are wet, but most of them are still useable.

He grinds his teeth and starts his counter attack.

* * *

Oh boy is Gokudera angry now, Tsuna notes as he runs back to catch up with Hana and the rest, Takeshi dodging his heels.

"How did you do that?" he yells when he gets into range. The makeshift water jets were underpowered maybe, but they worked.

"Using the baking soda you got for your mother and the rest of the vinegar packets from lunch!" Hana yells back, all of them sprinting for the backpack.

Tsuna laughs and shakes his head.

"EXTREME SCIENCE!" Ryohei yells.

"We can only make a few more, since there's not a lot of vinegar to go around," Kyoko says in answer. Tsuna nods.

"Better make it count then."

* * *

Reborn watches the kids run around and fingers his gun. So far everything is going mostly as planned, although he is slightly surprised at the civilian's craftiness. Tsuna's friends seem to all have good reaction time, a disinclination to panic, and the ability to think on their feet.

All good things for guardians to have.

The main issue now will be to do two things, endear Gokudera towards Tsuna and figure out Kurokawa's flame potential.

Luckily, he has just the thing.

* * *

Tsuna sees it coming. Of course he does. The past might be different, but it is not that different yet.

Gokudera is frustrated; it shows in his clenched jaw and in his jerky throws. He's adding more and more dynamite at a time. He's also no longer ignoring the girls, is in fact gunning for them.

They get to the bag but are unable to make anymore exploding bottles because they have to keep moving. Ryohei is the first one there, sliding down to pick up the overturned box of baking soda and the last few vinegar packets. Kyoko gets there second, able to pick up a few more bottles before they have to bolt.

Tsuna and the other two don't even bother trying to rescue the rest, all of them go pealing out as an explosion burst from the ground behind them. A few bottles go flying, the smell of melting plastic sweeping by.

Tsuna yelps as a few burning pieces pelt them.

"Ffffff—He's a maniac!" Hana yells. In the distance they can hear Gokudera yelling back.

"We need a plan!" Kyoko answers, panting. Tsuna pushes his legs to go a little faster and thinks.

"If I can get close—" Ryohei starts to say before Kyoko interrupts.

"You're not fighting him! There's got to be a way to get rid of the dynamite," she yells. "How much water do we have left?"

"Not enough!" Hana says.

All of them have to scatter when a series of dynamite get thrown their way.

The wall of bombs jogs a memory and Tsuna skids to a stop, almost colliding with Takeshi crossing from the other direction. The other boy slides a few feet and almost trips over one of Tsuna's legs.

"I got it!" he yells out, "Cover me!"

He spins in place and books it across the field, heading straight towards Gokudera.

* * *

Two things happen in rapid succession. One; Hayato fumbles his dynamite. Two; Reborn readies his gun.

What doesn't happen: a bullet straight to the brain.

* * *

Tsuna takes one step towards Gokudera and breathes out. The next step and his vision is clear and the dynamite falls in slow motion. It takes absolutely nothing to reach out and defuse the slowly falling bombs, having done it once before. He doesn't bother with the last few and deems it safe enough to tackle Hayato away from the blast.

A large smoke cloud erupts.

A little ways away, Reborn lowers his gun. Screaming has him raising it again.

The other kids, having started to rush over to Tsunayoshi, are right in the line of fire of a falling rain of dynamite; the rest of the crate having been lifted in the air of the previous blast. Almost all of them are lit.

"Run!" one of them yells, and Reborn reacts with only seconds to spare as the cloud of bombs start blowing.

Four gunshots ring out.

* * *

The dust slowly settles.

* * *

Tsuyoshi Yamamoto is at the restaurant counter when his son walks in slightly smoking, wearing different clothing than what he walked out wearing in the morning. He blinks and puts his newspaper down.

"You ok there?" he asks slowly as the boy ambles by, seemingly no worse for the wear. Takeshi laughs.

"Great! Me and the others played this really fun game. Too bad about the lightning," he says. Tsuyoshi nods.

"Lightning huh, strange, don't think I saw any storm clouds," he says. Takeshi thumps down on the seat in front of the sushi bar.

"Must have been a freak storm," he says, scratching the back of his head. The edges of his sleeves are singed, and there's the distinct smell of gunpowder about him.

"What are the odds," Tsuyoshi says wryly, crossing arms. His son laughs.

"Yeah, what are the odds." He agrees.

* * *

"Hana-chan—" Kyoko says, before the girl interrupts her.

"No," Hana says, tugging borrowed clothing over her hands. Her hair is standing up, puffing out and making her look like a she's stuck her hand in an electrical outlet. "Absolutely not."

"But—" she's once again interrupted.

"Nope. No way," Hana says. Behind them Ryohei chuckles.

"I thought it was very EXTREME!" he says. He at least looks relatively normal, looking mostly just like he has had a long run. Hana snorts.

"You would. But we are never speaking of this again," she says. The walk back to her house seems very long.

"I thought you would have so many questions about this though," Kyoko says with a pout. She's a little better, being only slightly singed and with hair only slightly frizzed out. She's almost bouncing as they continue onwards.

Their dishevelled appearance gets them a few odd looks as they walk through town.

"Oh I have questions, alright. But until I can confirm this isn't a joint hallucination brought on by association with Sawada Tsunayoshi, I am pretending this never happened," Hana replies, voice dry.

* * *

Tsuna opens the front door and takes a deep breath. Reborn is most likely already in Tsuna's room, somehow having gotten home before him, but all Tsuna cares about at the moment is having a bath and laying down.

His limbs feel like pudding, and there's a deep ache in his left shoulder. Out of all them, he's probably the worst off.

Behind him, a silent but fidgeting Hayato hovers.

Tsuna sighs.

"Come on in," he says, beckoning the other boy closer. Hayato shuffles in and lingers awkwardly in the entryway.

Tsuna kicks off his shoes and nudges them in place before dropping the beat-up backpack near the coat rack.

"We'll have to stop by your apartment before school to pick up your books, but we have the space for you to stay the night if you want." He says, not bothering to turn back to see the other boy's flustered expression.

"Tenth! I could never impose—" Hayato starts saying, before Tsuna waves a hand and forces himself to turn and look him in the eye.

Tsuna smiles wryly and shakes his head.

"Please, both of us are exhausted and you live on the other end of town. We have the room and Mama would love another guest over. Besides, if you're supposed to be my right hand man then we should probably get to know each other shouldn't we?" He says.

Hayato slumps in what looks like relief.

"Don't worry Tenth, I'll protect you during the night." He says forcefully.

Tsuna grimaces and waves his hands around.

"No no no, you don't need to do that. We can, I don't know, play some games or finish up the science homework for tomorrow, and then, sleep. Both of us," he says frantically. The last thing he wants is the other boy staying up to guard the house or something like that.

"Besides, nothing will get us here. I mean, Reborn sleeps here too," he adds when it looks like Hayato isn't convinced.

The boy nods thoughtfully, even though truthfully Tsuna knows that if someone were to do something Reborn wouldn't interfere. Something about a conflict of interest or something.

Both of them stand in the hall for a few awkward seconds before the back door opens and his mother calls out.

"Tsu-kun? Is that you?"

Tsuna jumps and turns to go into the kitchen.

"I'm here, Mom. Can a friend stay over for the night? It's getting late," he says, spotting her shrugging off her coat near the back door.

"Of course!" she says, "Any friend of yours might as well be family."

Tsuna doesn't have to turn to know that Hayato is blushing.

* * *

Dark eyes watch as an odd group of people set about exploring the ruins.

"What a dump," Ken says, kicking a pile of rubble over. Besides him, Chikusa snorts quietly.

Mukuro ignores them with long-learned patience and instead watches the others from the corner of his eyes. Ken and Chikusa are loyal, to a fault, but Birds and the twins require constant supervision. Lancia, he knows, will bolt as soon as he stops controlling him.

If he didn't need to distractions he would dispose of all of them save Ken and Chikusa, but as it is he needs someone to catch Vongola's attention while he sets up the real trap.

Once he has the Vongolan heir, he will have access to much higher-quality minions, but for now he'll just have to make do.

It's a good thing he is very good at using all the resources at his disposal.

* * *

Hayato walks with Tsuna to school. They are met by Ryohei and Kyoko halfway there, and there is an unanimous decision by all to forgo running. If the two other students are upset by Tsuna hanging around their tormentor from yesterday, neither of them mention it.

Tellingly, Hayato stays between Tsuna and Kyoko, registering the larger threat. She smiles sunnily at him, and he shivers.

They are soon joined by Hana and Takeshi, one sporting a very disgruntled expression and one somewhere between amused and murderous. It's a relaxed murderous, like a crocodile waiting for someone to wander close enough to eat.

Hayato looks conflicted as to which side he should be protecting Tsuna from the most. There are phantom shocks crawling up his arms from Hana's glare, but he can practically feel the bloodlust coming from Takeshi.

They hit the school gates and scatter, watchful of Hibari's nebulous temper and all planning on meeting for lunch later. Hayato sticks close to Tsuna, but has to fight for his attention with Takeshi as they walk to class.

At first he doesn't think the other boy is doing it on purpose, but no, there's a little bit of a smug look in his eyes when Tsuna turns to him instead of Hayato.

"Oh man, I am so sore," Takeshi says with a fake sigh. "That was almost rougher than some of my baseball games!" he laughs.

Hayato's teeth grind.

"It was quite intense there at the end," Tsuna agrees, before sending Hayato a wry glance. They haven't spoken much about the whole affair, but he is thankful at least that there are no hard feelings.

* * *

Reborn hops down from his perch on the school walls and hums a little to himself. At least some things are going to plan, although not necessarily in the way he originally predicted.

Gokudera is integrating with the group, Tsunayoshi has a right hand man that won't passively murder everyone in a fit of pique, he know knows all of the kids flame affinities, and the best bit is he barely had to raise a finger to do it.

And all of the prospective guardians are so rich in potential it's rather ridiculous. In some ways that's not a good thing, the training they are going to have to go through not to burn out will be a lot more intensive than those who have only middling Flame potential. On the other hand, the Vongola's heir will need extremely strong guardians to even survive 'til the Ninth passes on the title.

And Reborn is good, the best, but even he will find it difficult to train up so many Flame users in such a short amount of time. He would call in reinforcements but that brings its own issues as well. Not to mention the only other people he trusts with a task like this are the other arcobaleno and, just no.

He brings a hand up to rub his forehead and sighs.

On top of that he has to figure out Tsunayoshi's mutant flame. It looks and feels like a pure Sky Flame, but there's just a hint of discord there too. Mist Flames crawling through the cracks, although never to the extent of that first awakening.

He hasn't told the Ninth yet, knows what it looks like; another Xanxus in the making. At least Wrath Flames make sense in context for the man, Mist just doesn't fit Tsunayoshi at all.

Makes Reborn think the boy is hiding something from him.

* * *

Mochida comes back to school. He very cautiously edges around Tsuna and Kyoko whenever he sees them, stays late after school for kendo practice on his own, and decimates about a pound of apology chocolate that shows up on his doorstep.

Sometimes, he will look at the slowly growing group around Tsuna and seethe, but more often when a burst of laughter catches his ears he will hunker down and sit on his hands, as if stopping himself from reaching out for something.

Jealousy is an ugly emotion.

* * *

Byakuran snags another marshmallow and hums. A few of his new-old men scurry about, side-stepping Shoichi and his computer parts.

He hasn't found all of his old people yet, doesn't know if he even wants to, but there's a few he doesn't regret picking back up.

He also has the advantage of knowing who will be loyal this time, and who will be smart enough not to be. Which is why he has Shoichi stationed in his office, even though the labs would technically be a better spot for the other boy.

"Sir? Fourth-Captain Daniels reports that the shipment scheduled to go to the Dramirez family have been lost. Somehow thirteen crates of guns and explosives was rendered unusable and confiscated by the police." A harried looking man says, clipboard in hand.

Byakuran smiles.

"Ah, and so it begins."

* * *

Tsuna sits at lunch surrounded by his friends, his family, and smiles. He's missed the sound of Hayato and Takeshi bickering, even if it used to drive him up to wall sometimes.

Some things are different, of course. Namely how close he is to Hana and Kyoko this time around, but he supposes not having a huge glaring crush on Kyoko helps with that. He also has twenty years of experience in knowing not to exclude the girls, even when the other men in his life say he should.

Hibari is absent, not that he would ever lower himself to "crowd" with them anyways, which means the only one missing is Mukuro and Chrome. And the kids, but he doesn't really count them as the inner circle, even if Lambo has been such a big help in the future.

Tsuna frowns at the thought. He has vague plans for Mukuro, knows from experience the best way to handle him is to hand him a mystery and keep him distracted, but he doesn't know what he is going to do with Lambo.

He's not going to be a guardian this time, Tsuna wants him to have the chance to be a child for quite a few years before even thinking about joining, but with how negligent his family is…

Well, he'll have to find some way of cutting Lambo off of the Bovino's influence while still giving him the option to leave the mafia later on.

"Tsu-kun?" Kyoko asks, knocking her elbow into his soft sides.

Tsuna huffs, but turns to her and smiles anyways. On her other side, Hana smirks at him.

"We were thinking of going out to do a sakura viewing this weekend. All of us, that is." Kyoko says, ignoring the byplay between Hana and him just as much as she does with Takeshi and Hayato. On the other side of the table, Ryohei gives a thumbs up with his mouth full. Tsuna grins at him.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind." He says, thinking. There's something about cherry blossoms that is pinging his memory, but he can't quite remember what.

"Awesome, just how I want to spend my free time. With monkeys." Hana drawls. Tsuna snorts.

"You love us, don't even." He says with a laugh. She wrinkles her nose at him but tellingly doesn't dispute it.

"Besides." Kyoko says with a grin, "That just give you more time to investigate, doesn't it?"

Tsuna raises a brow.

"Investigate?" He asks. Hana tosses her hair.

"Well, someone has to. Everyone else seems to be ignoring the talking baby and the glowing superpowers. You are into some weird shit, Sawada." She says.

"Hey!" Hayato yells, looking insulted. "Don't say that about the boss."

"And that!" Hana points at him. "No one has explained that either!"

Takeshi laughs.

"Octopus-Head isn't an it, Hana-chan." He says. Hayato makes a strangled sound of rage.

"My hair doesn't even look like an octopus! Where did that even come from?" He forces out, lunging for the other boy. Takeshi shrugs, ducking down to escape Gokudera's reach.

"I don't know, just feels right." He says, slowly, finger on his chin. Hayato groans.

Tsuna smiles.

"Well, I couldn't let him go back to listening to Reborn could I?"

* * *

Tsuna gets home and stops in the entryway, ignoring his mother and aunt's curious looks.

"Fuck, Hibari!" He mumbles, tugging a lock of hair. He had forgotten completely about Hibari's only weakness. And what came about because of it.

Mukuro. And the Vendice.

Which means he doesn't have a lot of time to plan. Might in fact, have only a few days before the start of the attacks.

This time at least, he has experience on his side.

A smack on the head reminds him of who he is with, namely Reborn.

"A mafia boss is never crass." The baby says, low enough that the two adults can't hear. Tsuna winces.

"You're telling me an organisation built up by blood and crime is supposed to not be crass?" He says, sardonically. He gets another whack in answer.

* * *

"I see what you mean" Moriko says, watching her nephew walk up the stairs with his tutor. "That is slightly odd."

"I don't think I've ever heard him swear before." Nana says worriedly, the corners of her eyes tight. "Do you think I should have reprimanded him?"

"I'm not sure he would have even heard you in that state." Moriko says amusedly. Nana just frowns.

"Besides, I was talking about the baby. More mature than he looks, huh." Moriko says. "More like, impossibly mature for his age. He's what, six months?"

Nana nods.

"Well. I can tell you he's not one of mine." Moriko says slowly, before grabbing her jacket. "Come on, let's go out and get some food. You're not going to want to cook for this conversation."

Nana frowns and follows her.

* * *

Reborn watches the women leave an tips his hat down. He would like to follow them, but he's already neglected more of Tsunayoshi then he would like. There's been a lot of cleanup to do in the city though, as the more he looks the more he realises just how bad Vongola's presence has shrinked.

And that was before he had gotten the message saying Rokudo Mukuro had escaped from prison and was on his way to Namimori.

A timer goes off, and he turns to check to see if his student has blown himself up yet. Tsuna slumps back from his desk, still whole, and gives the bomb strapped to his chair an ugly look.

Reborn smirks, and very deliberately doesn't mention that it is set to only explode into glitter and air. Enough to startle, and smart a little, but nowhere near enough to do any damage.

That's not something Tsuna has to know.

"I'm done." The boy says, somewhat redundantly, but Reborn just nods. Leon, supervision the study session, flicks once in something that could be amusement.

"Do it faster next time." Reborn replies. "Now that the normal section of our lesson is complete, let's move onto the maffia section."

Tsuna groans.

"Since you did adequately at the family history portion, today we are going to concentrate on the day to day life of Mafia members." Reborn continues, ignoring his student. "Turn towards page 45 in you're Mafia Handbook."

Tsuna perks up a little, tugging said book out, but instead of flipping towards the indicated page turns to unearth a notebook instead.

"What's that?" Reborn asks with narrowed eyes. Tsuna rubs his head with a nervous laugh.

"Well, even though I know I'm not actually going to be a mafia boss—" Here he ignores Reborn's sharp look "I had some questions about it. For curiousities sake."

Reborn frowns, but takes a seat anyways. Despite the boy's refusal, this is perhaps the closest thing he has seen of interest from him. It's a good sign, and something he wants to nurture, so he supposes he can indulge him.

'Well?" He asks, when Tsuna does nothing but stare at him in surprise.

"Right!" Tsuna yelps, turning the page.

"Ok, so first is something I noticed you've never actually mentioned. What does the mafia even do?"

Reborn lifts a brow.

"I mean, I get it. Rwar, flames. But what for? Money? How? You would need to sell something, and as far as I can tell the only thing anyone sells is to other mafia families. Drugs? Seems a little low budget for people who can literally move things with their minds. And then—" Here he pauses to flip the page, "All theses assassinations. Why? In most cases families gain nothing from killing off competitors because, guess what, territory is worthless when you aren't actually making money off of anything."

Reborn watches the boy get more and more worked up.

"And! Don't even get me started on the experiments. Not one family seems to have a clear goal for any of them, it's all, ' _Oh I'm going to poke this and see what it does, but then I'm not even going to do anything with it'_ , as if that justifies all the wasted resources not to mention the amount of human atrocities taking place—"

"Tsunayoshi—"

"—And supposedly Vongola started out as a vigilante group, but I just don't see it. What were they even fighting for? And then afterward, when it was a mafia family—"

"Tsuna—"

"—They still didn't have a concrete goal, just all these plans for strength, and—"

He's interrupted by a bullet about an inch from his face and Reborn's glare.

"Each family has it's specialty, some of which, yes, is science and experimentation. Most of them make weapons for other families, who use them in territory disputes for trade routes and privileges. Some families do deal in drugs. Most assassinations are contract work, and most of those who do it don't have a dedicated family, unless they work for extremely powerful families. The main source of income for most mafia families is either technology or else the buying of civilian companies." He cocks his gun again.

"Is that all?" He asks with narrowed eyes.

Tsuna lifts his hands up in surrender and nods.


	3. Chapter 3

It's been almost a year...oops.

Sidenote, a few of those months I wasn't writing because I got frustrated with demands for updates etc, so don't do that. If you haven't already you should probably follow this story on A03 because I really don't like uploading to anymore

/

—

/

Moriko sits Nana down at a hole-in-the-wall barbeque place and orders them some drinks. She ignores her sister's frown and waits until the sake comes out before talking.

"Now, I know you don't keep up with the gossip back home," she says slowly, taking a sip. Her eyes are intent, but there's a glimmer of amusement in them.

Nana shakes her head.

"Just as well, I feel if you knew who you were harbouring in your house you might have given up the game before it even started. Let's put it this way," Moriko places her cup down and draws a line of condensation across the tabletop, "you have families like us; businessmen and trade dealers, deeply rooted in the traditions of Japan. And then you have _them_."

Here she flicks out a hand in a rough flourish, grinning roguishly at her sister. Nana lifts a brow and brings her cup to her lips.

"Them?" she prompts, when it looks like her sister isn't going to elaborate.

Moriko nods.

"Them, families who deal mostly in power. Not just money, no. These are those who crave being the strongest, who will spill blood and walk all over proper business practices to get what they want."

Nana frowns, tugging at a tuft of hair just like her son does.

"Flames, you mean?" she's trying to remember what her long ago lesson told her about Flame-using families. There's not a lot.

"Flames! Weapons, technology, whatever they can get their hands on to stand at the top of the foodchain. There's no real goal for these outsiders, they just glut themselves on their own insulated bubble. I might be able to drudge up some respect if they actually gained anything from it, but they've forgotten how to _really_ do business," Moriko sighs.

She twirls the liquid in her cup and pauses.

"Now, I might not respect a lot of the Western families, but I can't deny that their quest for power has given them _some_ things. Chiefly, a large amount of extremely dangerous enforcers and assassins. Flames can do a lot, as I'm sure you know. But even outside of that there's men and women out there that even I wouldn't want to face. Like your guest."

Nana shifts uncomfortably, biting her lip.

"You know who he is then?" she asks uncertainly.

"Do I? I can guess. There's only a few people out there who look like babies but act like thirty-year-old men in suits. I don't know a lot, but what I do know is concerning."

Moriko chugs her sake like it's water and then sighs with her elbows on the table.

Nana frowns. "Which is? Come on, Mori-chan, you've told me practically nothing," she sighs. Her sister grimaces.

"He's an assassin. A hitman. Supposedly non-affiliated, but rumoured to be in one of the largest families' back pocket. That's all I know, really," she finally forces out.

Nana brings her hands to her head and sighs. It's not really surprising, but it's also something she was hoping against.

"What. What am I going to do? What does he want with Tsu-kun?" she mutters, voice small and cracking.

Moriko slumps down herself and stares at her drink.

"Now that? That is a good fucking question."

—

Tsuna wakes up the next day determined to get a head start on the Mukuro problem. He knows, more than anything, that the other boy can be reasoned with. It just usually takes the sort of head games and twisted logic that he is unsuited towards.

At least in the future they had developed something of a system, but he knows if he goes in half-heartedly now he could very well die. Or be possessed.

This Mukuro isn't the one he's used to dealing with.

Still, that doesn't mean he deserves to be locked up in the Vindice, even if he is plotting to end the world. It's too bad there's not some sort of law or subclause that he can use to get him out for good. But wouldn't you know it, there's no lawyers in the Mafia.

Instead, he figures his best bet is to drop off a hint about the incoming threat to the other boy, while still giving him a reason to be interested in the younger him.

He tugs on his school outfit and flattens his hair in the mirror, before smiling at his reflection and letting his Flames rise to the surface for a second.

Purple mist cracked with orange sky flicker about his head, before dying down to a low glow in his eyes. He inspects them for a second, pulling the lid down to look at the new colour, before humming and turning them off. Of all of Byakuran's little gifts in this new timeline, the Flames are perhaps the most odd.

Useful though.

He turns away to continue his routine. Behind him, his reflection stretches and presses a hand on the mirror. This Tsuna is older, with longer hair and a sharper jawline. He's wearing a black suit and gold chains around his hands.

One Tsuna goes to class, while the other steps out of the mirror and heads towards the abandoned Kokuyo Land.

—

Class that day is a chore. The hours drag by, only manageable by the antics of his friends, who, as usual, are complete menaces. Even Hana seems to get dragged into it, getting into an argument at lunch with Hayato. About math of all things.

He forgets sometimes just how smart his friends are compared to him.

"No no no no. I don't care how 'plausible' the math is, that kind of situation just wouldn't happen. If you're basing it off of the theory of—"

"—please, like you even understand the math behind it, woman. There's proof! How else do you think—"

"—Don't call me woman! And shut up about your weird conspiracies. Also, I'll let you know that my dad is a well known mathematician and I grew up on—" Hana snarls, slamming her hands on her desk.

On the other side, Gokudera snarls right back.

"Well obviously not a good one, if he's let you living under the delusion—"

"—DELUSION? Who's being delusional here? Me, the pinnacle of rationality and intelligence, or you, who thinks aliens and TIME TRAVEL exists?"

Next to the brewing storm of vitriol that is Hana and Hayato trying to prove something to the other, Tsuna winces. Luckily, both of them are so caught up in trying to talk over each other that they don't notice. Instead Takeshi bumps his side with an elbow and raises an inquisitive eyebrow his way. Tsuna shrugs, and then accepts the offering of fried shrimp from his friend's lunch.

On the other side of their pushed-together desks, Kyoko eats her bento peacefully, seemingly oblivious to the nearly crackling energy of the two arguing in front of her. Hana slams against the desk again, standing up with aggression visible in her whole body. Hayato snaps up as well, and both end up snarling into each other's faces.

Tsuna laughs nervously, rubbing his head.

An incoherent scream of rage has the rest of the class jumping, as Hayato reaches into his jacket to pull out a stick of dynamite. Tsuna jumps up, ready to interfere, but Hana beats him to the punch.

With a crackle of displaced air, she reaches out and clasps one green lit hand around his wrist. Both go yelping as static electricity arcs through the contact.

"Hey, let's all calm down now ok?" Tsuna rushes, waving his hands over his downed friends. Hana is slumped over the desk looking shocked, but it's Gokudera who is flat on his back on the ground.

In the background, Takeshi is laughing as Kyoko continues to ignore the chaos. Slowly the rest of the class settles, already starting to get used to the group and its oddities.

"You're getting better at that, Hana-chan!" Takeshi says, grinning at the groaning girl, "I thought you said you were going to forget about the 'strange magical powers'?"

Hana snorts.

"Like I could get away with it. I keep accidentally shocking people just brushing up against them. Have you guys had any weird...things happen?"

The group hums, Tsuna trying to keep a straight face. He's not successful, because the girl turns towards him and narrows her eyes at him.

"Cough it up, Sawada, or you'll be the next in line to get shocked," she grits out, waving a fist threatenly.

Takeshi's laughing slows down, and suddenly Tsuna has the avid attention of the whole group. Considering they are missing Ryohei and Hibari, it's still quite the intense atmosphere.

"Hahaha. Ha," he hedges, edging away a little.

"It's because you are now Tsuna's guardians," the voice comes from behind, and Tsuna squeaks as the heeled sole of Reborn hits his head. The baby settles himself on top of his head, digging into the messy locks.

Over Tsuna's startled disagreements, the other turn their attention to the scheming hitman.

"Guardians?" Hana asks, with a gleam in her eye. Hayato harrumphs and sneers at her.

"Of course you would never be a guardian for the Tenth, I, on the other hand, am his right hand man."

Next to Tsuna, Takeshi straightens in his seat.

"Oh, is this the Mafia game?"

Silence rings out for a couple heartbeats, as everyone stares at him with blank expressions. Tsuna blinks a few times before shaking his head vigorously.

"How do you—? No, never mind that. I mean technically it is a Mafia thing, but since I am not becoming a boss it doesn't matter."

Reborn pulls on his hair to stop the shaking and ignores him completely.

"As guardians to the next in line for Vongola's throne—"

"Now you're making me sound like some sort of long lost prince!"

"—you all have the potential to use Flames; supernatural forces used to protect and fight."

"Wait a minute," Hana interrupts, pushing herself back into a sitting position, "you're saying that he—" here she points towards Tsuna, "is some sort of Mob boss and that we—" and here she gestures towards the group with one waved hand, "are his, what, enforcers?"

Tsuna can feel Reborn nod. His friends reactions are less nonchalant. Kyoko has her hand up over her mouth, with a small little divot in her brow that makes her look both worried and shocked. Hana looks both surprised and triumphant, perhaps happy to have finally figured out one mystery. Hayato looks, obviously, unsurprised, but there's a tenseness to his muscles that say he too is reacting to the situation.

Most worrying is that Takeshi has stopped laughing.

"No!" Tsuna yelps, waving Reborn off of his head, "that's not how it is, because I refuse to become a Mafia boss."

Slipping off of his head onto the circle of desks, Reborn levels and even look his way.

"Of course you are, Tsunayoshi-kun. Because as the world's strongest hitman, I will make you one." It sounds like a threat.

"I'm sure Tsuna-kun can be whatever he wants to be," Kyoko pipes up, almost mechanically. Besides her, Hayato nods resolutely.

"I'm going to ignore the fact that Dame-Tsuna is supposed to inherit a crime empire for a second and ask the real question. What are these powers?" Hana interrupts, waving a hand.

Tsuna, already recognising the look in Reborn's eyes as the coming of a lecture, leans back and watches his tutor impart the basics of Flames into his friends.

It's no-doubt something that will need to be re-examined later, not just with the inclusion of Ryohei and Hibari, but also to weed out Reborn's Mafia bias. He knows better than to let the hitman have complete control over what information his friends are getting.

—

Mukuro is alone when the shadow comes. The rest of the gang are out on various tasks for the upcoming event, whether that be starting the campaign of terror against the Namimori students or searching for the Ranking Fūta, rumoured to have been seen in the city.

Mukuro, on the other hand, is staying back to work on the details of the plan. It annoys him to think that he has to rely on subpar minions to do his work, but with the Vindice still after them it would be idiotic to be reckless.

That's why, when a man saunters into the room, seemingly rising up from the shadows flickering on the walls, Mukuro is both prepared and unsurprised.

"If I knew I was going to have guests, I would have cleaned up a little," he says with a smirk, not moving from his seat. His trident is clasped loosely in his hand.

"Hmm, it does have a certain, _je ne sais pas quoi_ , ambience to it. Very evil lair," the man says with a grin, slowing to a stop a few feet away. He's short, with golden hair spiking up all over the place and a tailored suit that makes him look sleek and dangerous instead of tiny. His eyes are narrow and burnished gold, glinting in the dim light.

Mukuro narrows his eyes and waves a hand, displacing the shimmering illusion around the man. With a sound of a bell chime, purple mist evaporates. Like falling water, a wound is revealed on the man's forehead. Blood trickles down from the bullet wound.

Mukuro feels his eyebrows rise.

"Let me guess, reanimated corpse being controlled by someone elsewhere? Layered illusion being used as an avatar? Tacky Halloween decoration?" he asks, fiddling with his trident.

The man smiles.

"Nope. This is me, as I am," he opens his arms wide, "dead and only an illusion."

Mukuro doesn't dispute it. The man reeks of it, something he's become attuned to every since gaining the Six Paths of Reincarnation. However he is here, through illusion or other forces, he's existing on a completely different plane.

"And what does a dead man want with me?" he asks, after the silence stretches.

"I think the question should really be what you want from me."

—

The older Tsuna, once again under an illusion to disguise the hole in his head, walks out of the abandoned park whistling. There's no doubt that if he wasn't a simple projection, a shadow, he would either be dead or possessed right now. Mukuro isn't stupid, and he wouldn't let a threat walk out alive if he felt he didn't have all the cards in his hands. He's also a curious child though, with a weakness for oddities and phenomena, especially when it comes to mist Flames.

So of course, combined with the things Tsuna whispered into his ear, he'll be biddable for now. He's an adaptable sort.

Not, of course, that there still isn't going to be a danger in the coming days. He's not going to stop his plans just because a strange man with a bullet wound told him to. Which means his next stop is home and then a chat with Reborn, so they can step up the training schedule for his friends. No doubt the baby will be surprised at Tsuna taking an active part in the whole 'Mafia tutoring', but that's not all that important. He already knows that until he stands there with Vongola burning behind him, Reborn will still think he's going to become a Mafia boss. That's just how his ego works.

Passing by occupied cafés and quiet storefronts, he lets his mind wander. It's strange being in his 'true' body, the one he still feels the most comfortable with. It's a lie of course, a delusion brought on by the smattering of Mist Flames he holds, but there's a comfort in knowing that at the end of the day he'll be back in his young body.

Like an amputee using mirrors to work through phantom pain, seeing himself in the reflected windows of shops and the muddy puddles of the ground has something in his chest loosening.

The mixing of selves wasn't a comfortable one, and even now he feels a vague itch between the two versions of himself. He's not the man he sees in the mirror, nor the boy in his memories. For the most part he doesn't mourn his identity as either of them, feels excited and happy to experience things differently and with the sort of control he never was able to find in his past life. He's frustrated he's in this position in the first place, pissed and confused at Byakuran, but not crushed or angsting about it.

Maybe he has just gotten too blasé about time travel and weird happenings. Too used to things going wrong and having to fight by the skin of his teeth.

This feels almost like a vacation.

There's only one thing that would maybe trip him up, and because of the merging of selves it's a non-issue. He knows that if he was purely the older Tsuna, he would be grieving over losing the version of his friends from the future. As past Tsuna had no connection to them, that emotion is faded and worn. He mostly is concentrating on the potential of them, on knowing that they can work so well, that they will, eventually, be family.

He steps away from the street and blends into the lengthening shadows as he approaches his house. Reborn is stalking young Tsuna today, and his mom and aunt are talking quietly in the living room, so it's nothing to climb up to his window and shimmy into his bedroom. He could technically dissolve the illusion keeping him here, but he doesn't want to risk it until the true him comes back. It gets disorienting otherwise, and the last thing he needs is for his body to faint in the middle of the sakura blossom viewing.

—

Tsuna is sandwiched in between a relatively relaxed Hayato and a smiling Ryohei. Up ahead Kyoko and Hana walk arm in arm, chatting quietly and holding bags from the cake shop down the road. Takeshi is taking the rear, and walking way too close to him, bulky sports bag slung over his shoulder.

"Here we are!" Kyoko cheers, unhooking her arm to skip a few steps ahead. The path opens into a small park, gentle hills bracketing an area with a few benches and a slow running creek.

"Looks nice," Tsuna says around a smile, watching his friends wander down towards the center. It does look nice, pink flowers swaying in the breeze and covering the ground.

"EXTREME NATURE," Ryohei agrees, for some reason wrapping boxing tape around his knuckles. He wonders for a second if the Sasagawa's family version of a sakura viewing party are different from the usual, before remembering that Kyoko would never stand for a tradition that involves fighting.

Just a Ryohei thing, then.

"Here, we can set up here, it has the best view," Hana says, spreading out a thin blanket on the cool grass. The spot she's standing at is in a relatively central location, but set aside from the benches and the other sparse groups of people. It's not quite time for the more popular viewing parties, not that this area gets crazy like some of the bigger parks.

Tsuna makes a noise of assent and wanders closer. At his side Hayato makes a noise of disgust, seemingly at the way Hana is shaking out the blanket, but walks ahead to help anyways.

They set aside the cake, open up the selection of sushi from Yamamoto senior, and start on the rest of the food. Tsuna's mom has even packed a few of his favourite, along with the curried squid Hayato really likes. Soda is opened, and passed around, and soon everyone is relaxing and chatting under the breeze.

"Ah, this was a good idea," Kyoko sighs, leaning back. Tsuna nods in agreement, mouth occupied by a sweet dumpling.

"Yeah, it's a much better party than the dynamite one a few days ago," Takeshi says in agreement, elbowing a suddenly flustered Hayato.

"EXTREME SCIENCE," Ryohei cries, eyes crinkled in delight. At his side Hana covers her eyes in apparent second-hand embarrassment, although her cheeks are flushed anyway.

The group dissolves into good natured bickering, and Tsuna lets the noise flow past him without much care. Once upon a time he would find such interactions stressful, be anxious at all the loud personalities and extreme emotions. Now he finds it soothing. It's when the group gets quiet and still that he knows things are wrong. Noise just means happiness.

—

Takeshi shoves another piece of sushi into his mouth and leans away from Hayato's flailing arms. The other boy is arguing with Ryohei over whether the use of 'extreme' in 'extreme science' is warranted. Hayato is of the opinion that something as basic as baking soda and vinegar could never be called extreme, whereas Ryohei is rhapsodising about how the effect is more impactful than the process, or something.

On Takeshi's other side, Tsuna is leaning back with his head tilted towards the slowly drifting petals. There's a contented expression on his face, even though he's barely touched any of the food.

Hana and Kyoko are in their own little world, having taken the opportunity to divide the cake up so that they have the biggest pieces.

It's peaceful, and a part of Takeshi is still surprised he can have it. He's not used to having true friends, to being part of a group outside of baseball. It might seem odd that one of the class's most popular athletes is unused to having friends, but it's true. Most of his previous relationships have been with boys envious about his skill or whose only interest in him have been because of his popularity.

None of the people here care about baseball. Or about popularity, even if Kyoko is the school idol and Tsuna the ex-pariah. It's nice.

Takeshi feels alive in a way he hasn't in a long time. And it's not just about the new friendship either, that fight against Gokudera was so exciting that he was smiling for days. The adrenaline rush was so much more than a simple baseball game. And the Flames, well, those were interesting and new and exciting.

All in all, life is good. He's happy.

So why does he have the feeling something bad is coming?

—

Moriko sits on a park bench and waits for someone under the shade of a sakura tree. It's a nice day, with a gentle breeze that keeps her from being too hot under the bright sun. She could stay in this one spot for a long time, if she wanted. She doesn't.

Luckily, her contact struts into view before the boredom can drive her into leaving.

She knows through her research that this is a man who almost never leaves his ivory tower, someone who prefers to watch from a distance and maneuver things as he likes. She also knows that he does most of the things he does for entertainment, and therefore most probably accepted her family's request for in-person meetings on a whim.

"Well, if it isn't the beautiful miss Moriko," he says with a smile, stopping just shy of her and her bench. She rolls her eyes.

"Oh get on with it, we don't have that much time, Byakuran."

—

Mochida is walking home from the corner store when a shadow flickers in the corner of his eye. For a second he thinks it's Sawada, come back for another wrist, but that doesn't make sense. Sawada doesn't even react to him at school, despite the times that Mochida has waited outside the classroom door in hopes of—something.

The shadows flicker again. He stops and clenches his fist, wishing that he had brought his shinai with him.

"Come on out, I know you're there," he snaps, turning around so he can try and catch whoever is following him. The echo of a laugh is his only answer.

The shadows shift again, and he curses. He's at a relatively deserted intersection, old brick buildings creating a little alcove in the street design. He normally goes down the side street as a shortcut, but now that he knows someone is following him the normally innocent looking alley looks ominous.

He shifts again, eyes flickering around.

"Coward! You better show your face, you bastards—" A gurgle, as a force hits him in the neck hard enough to force him to his knees.

"What's this? Is a little rat trying to act tough?" A mocking voice calls out, and Mochida can just make out a pair of scuffed shoes enter his blurry vision. Another pair join them.

"Really, I thought we were supposed to rough him up, not immediately knock him out?" Someone drawls, sounding unconcerned. Mochida coughs, darkness creeping into his vision.

"Eh, I thought he would be stronger. He's supposed to be the kendo captain, right? Whatever, we just need to injure enough of them that Sawada comes running. Boss won't care if this one isn't awake to get his beating."

Just before he slumps over completely, Mochida can just make out the school uniforms both shapes are wearing. The Kokuyo high school crest is the last thing he sees before waking up in the hospital.

—

Hana and Kyoko get to school the next day to see the discipline committee on full alert. Students in pompadours and red armbands stand at the gate, watchful eyes on those who nervously wander in. Even Hibari can be seen, prowling the edges and glaring at anyone 'crowding'.

"What's going on?" Hana asks one of the committee members nearby. The boy takes one look at Kyoko and goes bright red.

"Oh, uh. Nothing to worry about, there's just been some...disturbances last night," he mumbles, eyes only for the school idol. Hana rolls her eyes at the display and crosses her arms.

"What kind of disturbances?" she asks, unimpressed. Kyoko giggles at her tone and smiles brightly at the boy. Hana is sure she does it on purpose.

"Um," the boy stutters, before his eyes snap to the space behind them, abruptly straightening at whatever he sees there. The girls turn.

"Last night eight students were attacked by unidentifiable figures. Three kendo members, including the captain, two Judo members, one karate member, and two members of the committee," Kusakabe Tetsuya says with a flat look.

"Oh no!" Kyoko gasps, hand flying to her mouth. The committee member looks stuck between terror at the presence of his superior and delight at her cuteness.

"We are doing everything in our power to protect the school body, but I'm sure you two will be safe. They seem to be targeting prominent athletes. You should head in anyway and leave the members to their duties without distraction," Tetsuya says, eyes somewhere between amused and annoyed.

"Of course." Kyoko smiles and tugs Hana further into the courtyard. They pass by more committee members, patrolling back and forth, and Hana can't help but think she hasn't seen this many of them in one spot in a long time.

It sets off a lot of red flags.

"Think this has something to do with Sawada?" she asks slowly, keeping her voice down.

"Probably," Kyoko agrees. Hana glances over at her, surprised. She honestly thought the other girl would disagree, always looking for someone's good side. But of course both of them have known Sawada for long enough to realise the kind of chaos he brings.

"How is Sawada involved?" a voice asks right behind them, sounding flat and scary without even raising volume. They turn to see Hibari glaring at them. Both girls jump.

"Hibari-san!" Kyoko squeaks, and Hana doesn't blame her. The prefect is even scarier up close, and no matter how much she might enjoy betting on his fights with Sawada doesn't change that.

The boy just glares at them, body still with violence. Hana winces.

"I mean, how is he not involved? You have to admit that for every weird thing happening lately he's at the centre of it," Hana says, part-nerves and part-frustration in her voice. Kyoko frowns and looks almost like she wants to defend the boy, but ends up shrugging. Hana isn't wrong after all.

Hibari stares at them for a few more seconds before making a noise of derision and stalking off. Hana feels the tension slipping down her spine and she sighs. Kyoko gives her a sympathetic look.

"Come on, let's head to class. I still have to look over the history notes, and Kaede-chan was going to let us borrow the newest copy of Sylph," Kyoko says after a slight hesitation. Hana nods and follows her into the school.

No doubt they're going to have to warn Sawada of Hibari's interest, but for now, they have better things to do.

—

Tsuna calls a meeting the next day, after school. He'd spent most of his class hours running from Hibari as his friends look on in amusement (and in Gokudera's case, rage), and if it weren't for the fact that things are finally starting to pick up, he might have been tempted just to go take a well-deserved nap.

Instead he gathers his group; Takeshi and Hayato on one side of his bed, the girls by the desk and Ryohei down on the floor wrapping his knuckles. And of course Reborn on his shoulder as he brings up the refreshments his mother prepared.

"So," Hana says while taking her glass of lemonade, "what trouble have you dragged us into this time? More magical bullshit? Maybe a quest to reclaim lost treasure!"

"Oh! Are we going to rescue a princess?" Kyoko pipes up.

"An EXTREME duel to the death!" is Ryohei's two cents. By the bed Hayato rolls his eyes. No doubt he still thinks the rest of them are not being serious enough about Mafia business, but Tsuna knows that all of his friends are, to a point, being serious.

"A bit of all of that," he admits, cool glass gathering condensation in his palm. The steady weight of Reborn on his shoulder shifts, and he can practically feel the amusement from the tiny figure.

"A group of dangerous criminals has appeared in the area, and seems to be targeting middle school students. No doubt they will try to strike against Vongola too, which means you," Reborn explains. Tsuna has to bite down on his instinctual defense of Mukuro. Nothing Reborn has said isn't true after all, and he's not the type to fool himself into thinking the illusionist is a good person.

"You think they'll come after us?" Hana asks, eyes narrowed.

"Tcha! They can try." The sound of Gokudera's voice is almost drowned out by Ryohei's excited yell.

"We will EXTREMELY fight back!"

Tsuna smiles.

"You guys don't have to, I mean, I would prefer you being able to defend yourselves, especially considering that being know you guys are my friends now but. Well. I don't want to make it seem like you have to fight." He tries to put into words what he's been thinking of lately. He knows his friends can become strong, can fight their own battles. But just like he shouldn't have to pick up a crown he never wanted, they shouldn't have to be dragged into his messes just because in some far future they stood besides him.

He doesn't want guardians who only become so because they didn't think they had a different choice.

"Aha, what are you talking about Tsuna? Of course we'll help you out," Takeshi says through a crooked smile. At his side Hayato nods vigorously, looking on the verge of tears. Tsuna blinks.

"Yeah, c'mon, do you think we're like, weak or something? Do I need to remind you who has lighting magic?" Hana crosses her arms and tries to look insulted, at her side Kyoko is giggling quietly.

But it's Ryohei who snaps out a hand in a thumbs up and drives the fear from his chest.

"No worries! We EXTREMELY got this."

"Listen to your guardians, Tsunayoshi-kun. They're a lot smarter than you are." Reborn tips his hat down and smirks in Tsuna's face. His small grin would be foreboding, if Tsuna didn't already have an idea what the baby is planning.

"Of course, none of you would survive at your current level, so it looks like it's about time we got serious with the training."

Groaning from the group.

—

A small child wanders the streets of Namimori, clutching a book to his chest and breathing heavily. He's been running from his pursuers for days now, and his stamina is waning. He know's there's someone in town who can help him, has ranked that much already, but there's some sort of interference that's keeping him from pinpointing the exact location.

Even just finding the right town was a real pain.

So here he is, back to the wall and trying desperately not to give away his position to the suited men running by.

"Hahi? What's a kid like you doing here?" a voice pipes up from right next to him, and he shrieks.

A girl with a ponytail and a school uniform stares at him curiously over the hedge he's using for cover. She has a broom in one hand and a duffle bag in the other.

"Hey! Over there!"

Fuuta flinches at the noise and goes to dash away again, but is stopped by a hand on his collar.

"Eh? Are you in trouble?" the girl asks, and then lifts him over the hedge in one fell swoop.

"Let me go! If they see me with you you'll get hurt!" Fuuta yelps, already hearing the sound of boots striking the concrete.

"Hahi? Someone hurt Haru? Why would they do that?" The girl doesn't let go of his collar, instead shifting the dufflebag farther up her shoulder and turning around. He notices for the first time that he's actually in someone's yard, and they're moving towards the door.

"Adults shouldn't go around chasing children, it's rude you know? You can stay with Haru until the mean men go away," the girl (Haru?) says. Fuuta shakes his head quickly, but finds himself still caught in the girl's hold.

She's strong, for someone who looks like she's practically a twig.

"You don't understand! These are real dangerous men, and, and they won't stop just because you're—" He stops talking, because the girl has just opened the door to what has to be a relative's face.

Fuuta looks up, and up and up. The man is at least six feet tall, and built like a bear. He has a low ponytail quite similar to the girl, but his hair is darker, almost black. Behind him is another man, more normal-looking. Slightly pudgy.

"Uncle! Papa! Look what I found! Can we keep him?" Haru asks.

Fuuta shrinks back.

—

"This is bullshit!" Hana yells, hands wreathed in green lighting and muscles burning. At her side Takeshi grins tiredly and lifts his sword a smudge higher.

"Look, I'm not saying we should kill Reborn, but we should kill Reborn," she continues, voiced filled with salt and exhaustion. Underneath them the raging waters of the remote waterfall they are training on rushes by. She feels vaguely dizzy just watching them.

"I invite you to try," Reborn drawls upon his little throne watching the battleground. On the other side of the narrow log they are walking on, Tsuna and Ryohei stand just as exhausted. They've been at it for a while, rotating partners to not get too comfortable in any which fighting style. Every few rotations one might get a break to try and hold up a stack of boulders with Flames, or run around the forest until they drop.

Tsuna grimaces and resettles against the log. In an ideal world they would be able to split up and learn under individual teachers, like with the Varia. But they don't have the time, and he knows even if they did Reborn still doesn't consider Mukuro that much of a threat, even if he should.

"C'mon," he whispers to the panting boy next to him, "we just have to get through their guard. Both of us are frontline fighters, and with this log…"

He tries not to imagine the kind of drop that will happen if one of them falls off. He has to trust that his tutor will save them, or at least use the bullets to make them save themselves. And both Takeshi and Hana have a more defensive fighting style, which matched up with Tsuna and Ryohei has made the current fight a long one. It's a stalemate, but one Tsuna's sure they can beat.

"Right!" Ryohei says through a grin. "We can EXTREMELY do this."

Maybe Takeshi can see what they're planning in their body language, or else has just gotten bored with the ceasefire, but Tsuna barely gets a dash in before a sword is swinging up and the boy is pushing forward. Hana yelps, and then joins him, sparks obscuring vision and singeing clothing. She's got a curved stick in hand, similar to an unstrung bow, and Tsuna knows that she can use it as a makeshift club and a conduit for lightning arrows. When she has the concentration, that is. Right now she looks exhausted enough that he's not sure she would be able to manifest the string, let alone the arrows.

Why Reborn had a Flame-conductive stick in the first place is a mystery, but probably not as big of a mystery as to how Leon was able to create Tsuna's gloves. Which are also Flame-conductive. And here he thought that kind of thing was rare.

Of course, that's not the only danger in trying to go head-to-head with what's turning out to be their best Flame user. Lightning is all about defense and taking damage after all. He has to be prepared for freak lightning strikes and smaller electric shocks. All damage done to her is returned, with prejudice.

Takeshi, on the other hand, is easier to deal with and with a glance at Ryohei he slides under the boy's guard and between his legs to pop up before Hana, trusting the boxer to be able to deal with the swordsman. Neither of them have a whole lot of Flame usage yet, but they can compensate with their fighting abilities.

Unlike Tsuna and Hana, who are more...explosive fighters.

"Oh bring it on," Hana mutters, eyes narrowed on his and hands steady. She has the stick in one hand as the other gathers Flames.

Tsuna swallows the spit in the back of his throat that suddenly rises at the sickly green, and grins. He wraps his gloves in orange Flames and goes in for a hit he knows is going to get reflected, starting the deadly dance they've been locked in for about an hour now.

—

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Kyoko asks curiously as she watches Gokudera prepare his dynamite. The sticks look different from the ones she's seen before, and the reason for the dark circles under the boy's eyes becomes obvious. He must have stayed up all night perfecting his formula.

"If it doesn't, we're going to be stuck here forever," he grunts, pulling his lighter out of his pocket as he talks. Kyoko blinks curiously and watches as he lights all five sticks, face attentive.

"It's just, we've been stuck here for at least forty minutes now, and none of your explosives have made a dent in the rock at all in that time," she points out, leaning her borrowed rifle on the ground. Gokudera stares at it worryingly and purses his lips.

"Why'd Reborn give you a gun, anyways?" he deflects, pulling the girl away from the blast range. Wide brown eyes stare at him innocently and he frowns even more.

"He said I would be the best at it, but I'm not sure how much I like it. I think I prefer my fists, like oniichan."

It's quite a change in attitude from the girl who not that long ago begged her brother not to fight, but she's changed her mind, somewhat, ever since she's spent more time with him. Her brother is a fighter, pure and simple, and she's starting to feel like she might be too. The gun feels distasteful in her hands, too mechanical.

"You'd think crazy—eh, I mean, Hana-chan, would be more suited for it," Gokudera mutters, eyes on the slowly burning wicks of the dynamite. Kyoko smiles.

"Who says she's not?"

—

They get three days. Three days of training and fighting and learning, until Reborn drags them back to civilisation by the skin of their teeth and drops them back in their beds for about six hours of sleep.

Then it's time to wake up learn that the attacks have only increased, to the point that Hibari is visibly going mad with rage. Rumours say he went out hunting and hasn't been seen since. Rumours say he found out who's responsible based off of the testimony of the captain of the kendo team, just awakened.

Tsuna curses when he hears and dodges the subsequent kick by Reborn.

"Looks like we're going to have to bring the fight to them after all. No way is Hibari going to be enough against a group like this" is what Reborn has to say, looking at reports of the attacks. Pictures of a few of the attackers have surfaced, and the group as a whole shivers at the emaciated faces staring up at them. An old man with a bitter smile and twins with crazed eyes.

Tsuna, removed from the fear by warrant of having lived it before, can't help but think that they're rather pathetic-looking. The twins look like they've entered a permanent state of hunger, and Bird's arms look thin enough to break from just a strong wind.

Funny how once upon a time these fights were so scary.

Things are very different from the previous timeline already, however. There's no small child in his house getting kidnapped, no alleyway brawls. There are two more people to fight in the park than there were before, but luckily they have two more fighters on their side, too. Even if they are missing Bianchi.

He spares a thought for where the assassin might be, and then shrugs. Reborn has been acting differently this go around, no doubt because of how Tsuna is reacting. Maybe he just didn't see a use for her this time.

"The Discipline Committee said that last they heard, Hibari was going after Kokuyo Junior High. But the chances of them actually using the school as a headquarters is pretty small. More than likely they have a secondary base that they are operating from," Hayato mumbles as they stand in a circle behind Tsuna's house.

"We're probably looking for someplace with very little traffic and supervision. It would have to be located close enough to the city centre but far enough away from any busy streets," Hana agrees.

Tsuna hums and has to stop himself from giving away the game. No doubt Reborn knows where Mukuro and the others are based anyway, so he's not the only one keeping secrets.

"So a warehouse district?" Takeshi asks, and the group devolves into guessing. Ryohei and Takeshi seem set on a warehouse, no doubt because of TV — the bad guys and secret warehouse meeting places are so popular.

Gokudera and Hana on the other hand have been arguing over whether an industrial area would be close enough for the amount of attacks happening, and Kyoko is watching them placidly with an odd look in her eye.

In an attempt to distract the girl, who Tsuna knows gets strange ideas she won't let go of at times, Tsuna tries to bring them back on the right track.

"Do we have a list of abandoned buildings in the right area?"

The group grows quiet, and as one turns to Reborn, who smiles at them and brings out a list from his pocket.

It only has one name one it.

—

"I'm just saying, it's a little suspicious."

Moriko stirs her coffee slowly, a tilt to her lips that doesn't fool Nana into thinking she's amused.

"Our family has never been extraordinary; not any more than any other business out there. We're a tad bit more knowledgeable perhaps, but—"

"Yes, I suppose the excuse of a new informant wouldn't pass with you," Moriko interrupts. There's a hard edge to her voice, but when Nana frowns at her she just sighs.

"Look, I can't say a lot. You're family, you're always going to be family. But you're not part of the business anymore, and frankly, this isn't the sort of thing I want anyone to know. It could...be inconvenient."

Nana crosses her arms and leans back, lips pursed. She can read between the lines well enough to understand that she's not going to get much else. No matter how frustrating all of it is.

"And whatever it is you know makes it so we can't just run, why? If the Mafia is seriously interested in Tsuna, I'm not just going to let them have him no matter what Iemitsu thinks."

"You don't have to worry about that." Here Moriko looks relieved. "I'm not planning to let Vongola have their way either. But it's a little more complicated than just killing off the ones isn't like the fiasco with the bike gang in high school."

Nana sighs.

"That wasn't my fault either. I guess I'm just annoyed at the fact that I should have seen this coming. Should have realised with Iemitsu's absences and vague phone calls that something was wrong but...well. Love blinds and all that," she says finally. She'd like to think she's smarter than that, but the truth is she's gotten used to not having to second-guess the people around her.

"Don't worry sis, Vongola might be powerful but they're in a really precarious position right now. They can't afford to be reckless," Moriko says with something approaching a genuine smile.

She doesn't mention that reckless isn't the same thing as dangerous, or aggressive. Sending an assassin to train a civilian child has already hammered that home. Some part of her can't help but feel insulted that they wouldn't consider that a threat when the time comes. That an assassin will be Tsuna's main role model; not someone who knows how to lead people or an organisation.

And unlike Nana, she can see how it will go if left untreated. Another empire of blood, even if he wishes otherwise. When your only solution is fighting, how do you change a society of violence? But that's not really her problem, and she doesn't really have the moral high ground to stand on. Her family deals in blood just as much as their Western cousins.

"Here, in the meantime there is something I can help you with," she says instead of pointing that all out, rummaging through the bag at her side.

"Moriko, really, that's—" Nana pauses, takes in the sleek gun that Moriko pulls out, and grimaces.

"Your old snubnose .40 revolver? Yeah, I found it while looking through some things in the attic. I'd feel better if you at least have something, even if it's not the fire power I would recommend," Moriko says, acting oblivious to Nana's look of disdain.

"There was a reason it was in the attic," Nana says, "and that hasn't changed in the fifteen years it's been there."

"Trust me, you're going to need something, even if it is a little water pistol. Otherwise you can, and will, be used against Tsuna. No one knows whose family you come from, we can't protect you like we could when you were still in high school." She takes hold of one of Nana's hands, the pistol held out with the other.

"Please, I know you hate it. But I can't let you be defenseless."

Nana scowls down at the weapon in front of her, teeth biting into her lip, before she reluctantly takes it from her sister's grip. She rubs her fingers over the engraved sides and sighs.

"So many things are going wrong in such a small amount of time. I really do have to get back at Iemitsu for all of this."

Moriko smiles.

"I'll help."

—

Tsuna watches Takeshi take another hit to the face and winces. He doesn't have long to sympathise though: his own opponent makes sure of that.

M.M. is a lot stronger than Biachi ever made it seem: her sound attacks are devastating but she's fast too, and Tsuna's body isn't quite up to speed as to what he's used to from the future. To make it worse, the Kokuyo gang isn't holding back like they did before. His little tip off must have really put Mukuro off-centre.

"UGH! Enough with the BIRDS!" Hana's scream from behind has him flinching as green arcs of electricity go flying. There's the sound of a body hitting the wall and plaster cracking: Tsuna doesn't have to worry about that fight at least.

"It would be faster if you left her to someone else and went on ahead, Tsunayoshi-kun," Reborn says from the top of his head. Tsuna jumps back from another soundwave and waves him off.

"Hibari can take care of himself. He can probably take care of all us, to be honest. It's smarter to fight as a group here."

A lesson he never really learnt until Byakuran, unfortunately. It would have saved so much stress if they had just stayed together during their adventures.

"Besides, do you really want to leave Hana and Gokudera alone in the same room, with Flames?"

Tsuna can feel the pause from Reborn, a miniscule shifting of weight.

"Fair, I suppose."

"Enough chatting!" M.M. yells, clarinet thrust out at them, "and stop dodging! It's annoying enough you're fighting with a baby on your head."

Tsuna sighs, adjusts his feet, and dodges just as one of the Bloody Twins goes flying at him. The man skids across the concrete, turning as he does and snarling back at Ryohei's laughter. There's a large bruise across one cheek and he's limping, but it's the one fighting Kyoko that really looks in bad shape.

Turns out rubber bullets still do damage, who knew?

In the midst of the explosions, screaming and laughter, Tsuna can just make out the sound of fighting in the other room. No doubt Hibari has already gotten past Ken and Chikusa, which means he's just started his fight with Mukuro.

They've fought a lot throughout Tsuna's memories, and there's never been a clear winner. He wonders if now that they don't know each other as well there might for once be a victor, of if they're just destined to be in a perpetual stalemate.

He can feel the gathered Flames in his gloves flicker at the thought, and he grins into M.M.'s startled face. She's strong, but she's not strong enough to fight a powered-up Sky. She's able to dodge the first hit, and block the second with her clarinet. The third hit breaks the instrument though and she goes flying, colliding with a struggling Birds and bouncing a few times before coming to a stop by the door. Tsuna lets himself have a sigh of relief before Reborn's pulling hands in his hair has him hissing.

His hands feel a little burnt, but he's still in good enough shape to go help Gokudera and Takeshi against a still-possessed Lancia. Luckily he knows how to deal with that. How odd is it that most of his enemies can be swayed to his side with enough physical force applied? Some part of him is amused by it, the older half no longer naive as to the effect of that much Sky Flame applied directly somebody's body. Skies do more than harmonise, they attract.

It's convenient, he's not going to lie to himself. It does feel a little deceitful however, as if the allies he has only come to his side because of his Flames and not because of his words or personality.

He's just ruthless enough to use it.

He can feel Reborn hop off his head as he rushes into the fight, and hear from behind the yelling of his friends and their fights. At certain moments the whole building shakes, and if it wasn't reinforced with illusions he'd be worried about that.

"Tsuna!" Takeshi yells, catching his eye. "Haha, this guy is pretty strong huh?"

"Shut up and fight, idiot!" Gokudera snarls at him, dynamit lit ominously in his teeth. He's got what looks like a broken nose and it makes his words garbled and muffled, which just gets Takeshi to laugh.

In front of them, Lancia looks on with a strangely blank look in his eyes. Whether it's the possession, or if he just doesn't know how to deal with the combination of both Takeshi and Gokudera's personalities, Tsuna doesn't know.

"C'mon guys, let's finish this before Mom gets mad that we're late for dinner."

—

Reborn watches the kids fight (and that's what they are, really, even he isn't jaded enough to think they're anything else) and has to smother the frown tugging at his lips.

Tsunayoshi Sawada makes no sense. He's known that for a while, but it's here, at his first real fight that he can really see the difference. Tsuna knows how to fight. Tsuna knows how to fight in ways Reborn hasn't taught him yet, knows the way his enemies will move and their weakness with the sort of precision that makes no sense for a fifteen year old boy.

And his friends are picking up on it. Hana and Kyoko shouldn't be able to stand their ground against more-seasoned fighters. They shouldn't be able to stand their ground at all. And yet Kyoko is trouncing an assassin with a smile and even Reborn can feel the power behind Hana's attacks from across the room. She's gotten up to five lighting arrows at a time, now.

Even Gokudera, the most trained of the group, is standing with the sort of confidence that he could have only dreamed of months ago.

Their rate of improvement is so astronomical it's almost humourous. Almost.

He's pretty sure he knows the source of it too. He can see it in most large Mafia Families; strong Skies make strong Guardians. That sort of improvement is the sign of a strong and developed Sky.

Except Tsuna isn't. Or isn't supposed to be. With his seal only recently-broken he should be playing catch up with the rest of them; his strong blood would help but not enough so that he could single-handedly fight off criminals on the run from the Vindice without at least the use of the Dying Will Bullets.

The fact that he has is suspicious.

Tsuna is suspicious. His broken Flames (and no matter the fact that he hasn't seen anymore Mist Flames means nothing. Reborn doesn't make mistakes like that). His sudden improvement in school, his well-timed acquisition of friends who just so happen to be perfect guardian matches…

In fact, if he didn't know better he would think that Tsuna was doing it on purpose, that he knew Reborn was going to show up. The fact that at no point has he acted surprised during the whole mess just makes it worse.

He's too calm. Too knowing. And his smile makes Reborn irrationally angry.

And it's never a good sign when he gets angry. It means the mission's about to go to the dogs, and really he's more of a cat person.

Despite how it offends his sensibilities, he's starting to think he should look into recruiting some backup. Someone almost as smart as him who'll be able to look at the things he can't: someone who can investigate the strange woman who is supposed to be Tsuna's aunt, who can distract those Vongola watchers who think they're being sneaky while Reborn does his own digging. And, as much as he won't admit it, someone who will take a few kids off his hands.

He's getting much too old to become a father of five.

—

Fuuta sits awkwardly between the two adults; across the living room Haru twitches the blinds again to peek at the black van waiting outside. The frown on her face threatens to migrate to her chest.

"And you're sure the police can't help?" Haru's uncle asks again. Fuuta doesn't know his name, but his voice is gentle and he can't help the disappointment the question brings. He wants to say that going to the authorities will help, if only so the man doesn't look so sad about it.

"Hmmm," Haru's father hums through his unlit cigarette. Unlike the uncle he looks and sounds a lot less gentle. Something about him, his size maybe, makes him want to hunch down.

"Haru thinks she can take them!" Haru says from the window, oblivious to everyone else's wince.

"No! No, no, that wouldn't be good. These people are dangerous," Fuuta cries for what has to be the tenth time.

"They don't look too tough to me," Haru's father mumbles, only to be shushed by the uncle.

"Haru is strong!" the girl says, completely ignoring the fact that she's maybe 144cm total, and about as big as her father's bicep.

Fuuta rubs his forehead and casts another furtive glance at the back door. If only he could sneak by the two large forms of Haru's male family members and escape through the back…

"Look! I'll show you!"

Both men groan in unison as Haru stomps off towards the door. Fuuta yelps and runs after her, trying to grab a hold of her before she ends up seriously hurt trying to confront Mafia men.

He doesn't even get a grip on her jacket; she's too fast. The creaking sound of the sofa tells him that at least her father and uncle are following, but even then he's not sure there's anything they can do when the men have guns.

He follows her out the door, limbs shaking, and then has to grab a hold of the door jamb when he sees her stomp straight up to the car and — pick it up?

"You should be ashamed of yourselves! Trying to hurt a child like that! Haru think's you're all bad men," the girl screams, hefting up the vehicle like it's a box of peanuts. Fuuta can feel his eyes pop.

"Oi, brat," her father yells, "careful you don't squash them."

The grinding noise of knuckles being cracked echoes through the air.

"You should leave something left for your elders to play with."

—

"I'm pretty sure Haru-chan's father is supposed to be a mathematician," Shoichi complains, eyes narrowed in the face of Byakuran's mirth.

"Well yes, but my power is in alternate realities, so there's bound to be differences," he says through a mouthful of marshmallow. There's silence for a few seconds and then Shoichi huffs, making a lunge for the bag.

"Oi!"

Being a semi-omnipotent god of reality doesn't make you immune to blackmail, Shoichi reflects, as his boss's face crumples in the wake of the loss of his snack.

"Oh fine, I made some changes, what's the big deal? Tsuna got a whole family! Haru-chan's father found his love of underground cage fighting while doing his master's thesis! All minor changes," Byakuran whines, hands clawing at the bag.

"Right. Minor." Shoichi doesn't bother trying to get anymore information out of the man; already he can tell he doesn't want to know.

Sometimes, he really has to wonder why he's following a man as mad as Byakuran. And then he remembers his life without him, and he cuts that train of thought as quick as he can.

"I guess I just don't know why you bothered then, if it's such a small change," he mumbles as he hands the bag back, turning in his chair to get back to his computer. Across the room the gathered men in white politely turn their faces away, smiles carefully tucked away. Bluebelle doesn't even bother, her laughter carries through the room unchecked.

"Well, it's the small things in life that keep you going," Byakuran says with a sigh, eyes already turned back to watching his newest meddling plot.


End file.
